Identity Theft Resources

To view current Identity Theft statistics, both nationwide and on a state-by-state basis - as reported by the FTC - visit the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel website accessible through www.ftc.gov.

To obtain your free annual credit file disclosure from one or all national credit reporting agencies, you can visit the official website: www.annualcreditreport.com.
CAUTION: There are some important issues for you to be aware of when ordering through the official website:

1. There are dozens of websites that are deceptively similar in name. www.annualcreditreport.com is the only official website to obtain the free reports. Many of the deceptively similar websites are fee-based sites operated by the credit bureaus themselves.  Don’t be fooled by links that promise to provide your credit score - there is a price for that.
2. You may also call toll free: 1-877-322-8228

Contact Information for the National Credit Bureaus:

Experian

• Website: www.experian.com
• General Telephone Number: 1-888-397-3742
• Website address for Online Disputes: www.experian.com/disputes/index.html
• Telephone number to order (purchase) a credit report: 1-800-311-4769
• To order a credit report (free) due to adverse action within the last 60 days: 1-866-200-6020
• Telephone number to place a fraud alert: 1-888-397-3742

Equifax

• Website: www.equifax.com
• General Telephone Number: 1-800-685-1111
• Online Disputes: Visit the Equifax website for instructions
• Mailing Address for Disputes:

Equifax Information Services, LLC
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, Georgia 30374

• Address to order (purchase) a credit report, and for free reports due to adverse action within the last 60 days:

Equifax Information Services, LLC
Disclosure Department
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, Georgia 30374

• Telephone number to order (purchase) a credit report, and for free reports due to adverse action within the last 60 days: 1-800-685-1111
• Equifax Consumer Fraud Division telephone number: 1-888-766-0008
• Mailing Address to place and remove Fraud Alerts†:

Equifax Consumer Fraud Division
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, Georgia 30374

• Telephone number to place a fraud alert: 1-888-766-0008
 † Correspondence must include verifiable personal identifiable information

TransUnion

• Website: www.transunion.com
• General Telephone Number: 1-800-916-8800
• Online Disputes: Visit the TransUnion website address for instructions
• Telephone number for Disputes*: 1-800-916-8800—Monday -Friday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
• Telephone number to order (purchase) a credit report: 1-800-916-8800
• Address to order (purchase) a credit report, and for free reports due to adverse action within the last 60 days:

TransUnion, LLC
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, Pennsylvania 19022

• To order a credit report (free) due to adverse action within the last 60 days: 1-800-888-4213
• Telephone number to place a fraud alert: 1-800-680-7289

ChoicePoint

• To obtain a copy of your ChoicePoint Background Check report: Call Toll Free: 1-866-312-8075. You may also visit the following website to obtain the report request form to print and mail in: www.choicetrust.com/pdfs/emphist.pdf

• To obtain a copy of your ChoicePoint Tenant History report: Call Toll Free: 1-877-448-5732. You may also visit the following website to obtain the report request form to print and mail in: www.choicetrust.com/pdfs/tenanthist.pdf

• To obtain a copy of your ChoicePoint Insurance Claim report (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange—Commonly known as a CLUE Report), Call Toll Free: 1-866-312-8076

Medical Information Bureau

Medical Information Bureau (MIB) Consumer Request
• Website: www.mib.com/html/request_your_record.html
• Call Toll Free: 1-866-692-6901

First Advantage

The First Advantage SafeRent consumer report is a specialty report related to a consumer’s criminal, eviction, and tenancy history and is used for rental application screening and related decisions. Consumers who do not rent or have not rented for some time should still review this report to help ensure that another person is not or has not rented property in their name.

• First Advantage Consumer Relations Website:
http://www.residentscreening.com/consumer_relations/faq/index.php
• Call Toll Free: 1-888-333-2413
• First Advantage mailing address:

First Advantage SafeRent, Inc.
Consumer Relations Department
7300 Westmore Road, Suite 3
Rockville, Maryland 20850-5223

• First Advantage Consumer Disclosure Request Form:
www.residentscreening.com/consumer_relations/forms/consumer_disclosure_packet.pdf

Certegy, Inc.

Certegy Inc. provides credit, debit and merchant card processing, e-banking, check risk management, and check cashing services. Certegy produces specialty consumer reports regarding consumer checking and deposit accounts and associated driver’s license information as part of its risk management and check cashing services.

• Certegy Consumer Website: www.certegy.com/ContactUs.html#USCONSUMER
• Toll Free telephone number to request a copy of the Certegy Check Services specialty consumer report or to dispute inaccuracies: 1-866-543-6315. You will be asked to enter your driver’s license or state ID number, date of birth, checking account number, and zip code using your touch-tone telephone keypad.  Reports are mailed to the address on file within 15 days from the date that the file is requested and your identity is properly verified.  You may also request a copy of their annual Certegy consumer disclosure report by mail.
•  To request their report by mail, Certegy requires you to include a copy of your driver's license, a voided check, and a copy of your tax or utility bill to verify your identity.
•  Certegy mailing address:

Certegy Check Services, Inc.
P. O. Box 30296
Tampa, Florida 33630-3296

Chex Systems

Chex Systems produces specialty consumer reports for financial institutions regarding consumer checking and deposit accounts. The report may contain information regarding general account history, check fraud, NSF (non-sufficient funds) activity, and other reported activity or information related to the consumer’s use of checking and deposit accounts. Inaccurate or incorrect information in the consumer’s Chex Systems report may cause them to be prevented from opening a new account or be denied check writing privileges. Information is maintained for five years.

•  Chex Systems Consumer Website: www.consumerdebit.com/consumerinfo/us/en/freereport.htm
•  Toll Free Number: 1-800-428-9623 - You should be prepared to provide your name, address, driver’s license number, and bank account number(s).

Deposit Payment Protection Services, Inc. (DPPS) and SCANSM

Similar to the Chex Systems network, information in the SCAN database (Shared Check Authorization Network) is used by member financial institutions, retailers, and other subscribers to make decisions regarding new account openings and check writing privileges.

•  SCAN Consumer Website (either): www.consumerdebit.com/consumerinfo/us/en/freereport.htm
www.consumerdebit.com/consumerinfo/us/en/scan/report/index.htm
•  Toll Free Number: 1-800-262-7771 - Consumers should be prepared to provide their name, address, driver’s license number and bank account number(s).

ISO - A-PLUS Reports

ISO is a supplier of insurance claims information used for insurance underwriting decisions. The A-PLUS report (Automobile-Property Loss Underwriting Service) is a report used by insurance underwriters regarding a consumer’s property and liability claims history, with information provided by many insurance companies. A-PLUS reports provide a five year history on all types of claims including loss or claims related to fire, flood, earthquake, burglary, credit card theft, worker’s compensation, and medical payments. Inaccurate information in the A-PLUS report can affect a consumer’s ability to obtain insurance, or affect the level of coverage premiums.

•  Website: www.iso.com/products/2500/prod2562.html
•  Consumer Report Request Line: 1-800-627-3487
•  Request a “Request for Disclosure” Form: 1-800-709-8842
•  Mail a request to have a request form mailed:

A-PLUS Consumer Inquiry Center
ISO
545 Washington Boulevard, 22nd Floor
Jersey City, New Jersey 07310-1686

Additional Data Brokers and Vendors

There are hundreds of data brokers and data vendors nationwide that earn significant revenues by selling consumer information culled from public records, directories, and other sources. The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse maintains two very helpful directories of numerous other organizations, including the organizations’ contact information and opt-in / opt-out policies. Both lists are useful in understanding what information these companies provide, how and to whom they provide it, and how to opt-out of inclusion, if available.

•  Information Brokers that do offer opt-out opportunities:
http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/infobrokers-optout.htm
•  Information Brokers that do not offer opt-out opportunities:
http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/infobrokers-no-optout.htm

Stop Pre-approved credit offers once and for all!

If you are growing weary of those constant “You’re preapproved” for credit offers in the mail, you can stop most of them with a simple phone call!  To “Opt-Out” of pre-screened and pre-approved offer lists, you can visit the “Opt-Out” website established by the credit bureaus, or call the toll free opt-out number. (One call will temporarily remove you name from the lists of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.)

•  Opt-Out Website: www.optoutprescreen.com

Online registration: Consumers can opt-out for a period of five years, or permanently opt-out by mailing in the form that is produced during the online opt-out registration process.

•  Opt-Out Toll Free Number: 1-888-5-OPT-OUT

Within approximately two weeks, the consumer should receive a confirmation letter to complete and return, which confirms that he or she wishes to be permanently removed from these lists. If the consumer does not return this letter, their name will be returned to the lists.

National and State Do Not Call Registries

In 2003, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission enacted the National Do Not Call Registry. The National Do Not Call Registry is a service designed to reduce the volume of unwanted telemarketing calls by allowing consumers to have their residential telephone number included on a list that prohibits telemarketing companies from contacting them. Registration is free and lasts for a period of five years.

•  Registration with the National Do Not Call Registry can be achieved by calling toll free: 1-888-382-1222, or by visiting the FTC’s website at: www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Under the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is tasked as the lead U.S. government agency for matters related to Identity Theft. The FTC maintains the Consumer Sentinel and Military Sentinel ID Theft reporting databases, though it has no investigative or law enforcement powers related to individual cases. The FTC provides the FTC Identity Theft Affidavit, a five-page document for reporting fraudulently opened new accounts, and also provides basic Identity Theft and related fraud information and statistics for consumers and businesses.

•  FTC General Consumer ID Theft Site: www.consumer.gov/idtheft
•  FTC ID Theft Affidavit: www.ftc.gov/bcp/online/pubs/credit/affidavit.pdf

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal law enforcement agency that, among many other crimes, also investigates substantial Identity Theft cases. Generally, only major cases of identity theft (and related fraud) involving criminal activity would be investigated by the FBI, and individual cases are only reviewed if there is strong evidence that it is part of a much larger pattern of fraud. The FBI maintains local field offices that serve designated areas.

•  Main FBI Website: www.fbi.gov
•  FBI Field Office Locator Website: www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm

FBI field offices can also be found in the Blue (Government) Pages of the telephone directory.

Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

(Identity Theft cases involving Internet fraud) The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) was established as a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). It is used to receive and process online reports of actual and attempted fraud and criminal activity involving the Internet (including email scams). Complaints received are reviewed and may be forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the matter.

•  Main IC3 Website: www.ic3.gov