If you’ve lost personal information or identification,
or if it has been stolen from you, you can minimize
the potential for identity theft if you act quickly.
www.consumer.gov/idtheft

• Financial accounts: Close accounts, like
credit card and bank accounts, immediately.
When you open new accounts, place passwords
on them. Avoid using your mother’s maiden
name, your birth date, the last four
digits of your SSN or your phone
number, or a series of consecutive numbers.
• Social Security number: Call the toll-free
fraud number of any of the three nationwide
consumer reporting companies and place
an initial fraud alert on your credit reports.
An alert can help stop someone
from opening new credit accounts in
your name.
• Driver’s license/other government-issued
identification: Contact the agency that issued
the license or other identification document.
Follow its procedures to cancel the document
and to get a replacement. Ask the agency to
flag your file so that no one else can get a
license or any other identification document
from them in your name.

Once you have taken these precautions, watch
for signs that your information is being misused,
and that your identity has been stolen.

If your information has been misused, file
a report about the theft with the police, and file
a complaint with the FTC, as well. If another
crime was committed – for example, if your purse or
wallet was stolen or your house or car was broken
into – report it to the police immediately.

Tags: Credit Card safety, credit report, ID theft, Identity Theft, stolen credit cards

An amendment to the federal Fair Credit
Reporting Act requires each of the major
nationwide consumer reporting companies
to provide you with a free copy of your credit
report, at your request, once every 12 months.

Free reports have been phased in during a
nine-month period, starting with states in
the West and ending with states in the East.
Beginning September 1, 2005, free reports will
be accessible to all Americans, regardless of
where they live.

To order your free annual report from one or
all the national consumer reporting companies,
visit: www.annualcreditreport.com; call toll-free:
877-322-8228; or complete the Annual Credit
Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual
Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281,
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

You can print the form
from ftc.gov/credit. Do not contact the three
nationwide consumer reporting companies
individually; they provide free annual credit
reports only through www.annualcreditreport.com,
877-322-8228, and Annual Credit Report
Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
OTHER RIGHTS TO FREE REPORTS
Under federal law, you’re also entitled to a free
report if a company takes adverse action against
you, such as denying your application for credit,
insurance or employment, and you request your
report within 60 days of receiving notice of the action.
The notice will give you the name, address and
phone number of the consumer reporting company
that supplied the information about you. You’re
also entitled to one free report a year if your
unemployed and plan to look for a job within 60
days; if you’re on welfare; or if your report is
inaccurate because of fraud.

Otherwise, a consumer reporting company
may charge you up to $10.50 for additional
copies of your report.

To buy a copy of your report, Contact:

Equifax:
800-685-1111
www.equifax.com

Experian:
888-EXPERIAN
( 888-397-3742)
www.experian.com

TransUnion:
800-916-8800
www.transunion.com

Under state law, Consumers in
Co, Ga, Me, Md, Ma, NJ, and VT
already have free access to their credit reports.

If you ask, only the last four digits of your
Social Security number will appear on your
credit reports.

Tags: credit report, ID theft, Identity Theft