How to Place a Fraud Alert on My Credit

The Federal Trade Commission advises consumers who believe they have become identity theft victims to immediately place a fraud alert on their credit reports by calling any one of the three nationwide credit bureaus--TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. A fraud alert helps prevent identify thieves from opening accounts in your name. If you're targeted, call and give your information to the fraud division of one of those agencies--it will inform the other two, and alerts will appear on all your credit reports, according to the FTC.

Instructions

1

Call each of the credit bureaus and ask that a fraud alert be placed on your file. Your first contact should be by telephone because that's the quickest way to establish the alert and ward off fast-moving identity thieves. You'll have to confirm your identify by providing information on your Social Security number, previous addresses and other personal information. Follow up with letters to all three bureaus, as it's always a good idea to document financial matters in writing.
Contact the credit bureaus at:

Equifax
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
877-576-5734

Experian
P.O. Box 2104
Allen, TX 75013
888-397-3742

TransUnion
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
800-680-7289

2

Get free copies of your credit reports from the website Annual Credit Report. Federal law allows credit fraud victims to order one free copy from each of the credit bureaus. The Annual Credit Report website was established by the credit bureaus to provide free reports and is the only site officially recognized by the Federal Trade Commission for doing so. Be aware that copycat sites may lure you with offers of free reports, then try to sell you services. Visit the Annual Credit Report website to order your reports or call 877-322-8228.

3

Check your reports for new accounts you did not open or inquiries from companies you did not contact seeking to approve new accounts. Call and write the credit bureaus to have the fraudulent accounts and inquiries removed. Also call your creditors to close any accounts that were accessed or may have been accessed by identity thieves, and have the balances and credit lines moved to a new account number.

4

Order a new credit report every few months. In addition to receiving a free report because of fraud, you're always entitled to three free credit reports every year. You can stagger your requests and maximize the amount of security you get for free by ordering one every four months from a different bureau.