Information for Victims of Identity Theft

Four Important Steps to Take:

1. Place a fraud alert on your credit reports and review your credit reports.
Fraud alerts can help prevent an identity thief from opening any more accounts in your name. Contact one of the three credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian or TransUnion, to place a fraud alert on your credit report. Once you request a fraud alert, you are entitled to free credit reports. Check these regularly to ensure there is no new fraudulent activity.  More resources

2. Close the accounts that you know or believe have been tampered with or opened fraudulently.
Contact someone in the security or fraud department in each company. Follow-up in writing by mail or email to each bank or credit card company and keep copies of these letters. If an identity thief has made charges to your account, ask the company to send you the correct forms to dispute these charges.

3. File a report with your local law enforcement agency and apply for a Nevada Identity Theft Passport.
By filing a police report, you may be eligible to apply for the Nevada Identity Theft Passport. This program will give you more credibility when dealing with creditors and potentially law enforcement to clean up bad activity that may have been committed by the person who used your personal information.

4. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
By sharing your identity theft complaint with the FTC, you will provide important information that can help law enforcement officials across the nation track down identity thieves and stop them. The FTC can refer victims’ complaints to other government agencies and companies for further action, as well as investigate companies for violations of the laws the agency enforces. You can file a complaint or receive additional information by going to the FTC’s website.