Have you been a victim of Identity Theft? When someone steals your identity, it’s devastating, no doubt, with a severe emotional toll. The most recent Identity Fraud Study from Javelin Strategy and Research revealed more than 16.7 million Americans had their identity stolen in 2017, so you’re far from alone. And while you might feel helpless as to how to start cleaning up the mess, you should know that you do have rights:
Your Rights
According to the Federal Trade Commission, you have the right to:
- Create an FTC Identity Theft Report
- Place a 90-day initial fraud alert on your credit report at all three major credit bureaus
- Place a seven-year extended fraud alert on your credit report at all three major credit bureaus
- Get free copies of your credit report (one per year per major credit bureau for a total of three per year). Go to annualcreditreport.com
- Have fraudulent information removed from your credit report
- Dispute fraudulent or inaccurate information on your credit report
- Stop creditors and debt collectors from reporting fraudulent accounts
- Get copies of documents related to identity theft
- Stop a debt collector from contacting you
For more information relating to each right, visit the FTC’s Know Your Rights page. Additionally, what’s not mentioned on that FTC page is you can and likely should also freeze your credit, not just place fraud alerts.
Federal Rights
Additionally, as a victim of a crime, you have federal rights in court, as guaranteed by the Crime Victims’ Rights Act of 2004 (CVRA), including the right to be reasonably protected from the accused; the right to reasonable, accurate and timely notice about any public court proceeding, parole proceeding involving the crime, or release or escape of the accused; full and timely restitution; and others, detailed on this Office for Victims of Crime page.
Get the help you need
Just because you have the rights to all of the above, doesn’t mean they’re easy fixes. Getting erroneous information removed from your credit report and stopping creditors and debt collectors from reporting fraudulent accounts can be time-consuming and hard to navigate. Recovering from identity theft is far from an easy path to walk alone. In fact, it can take hundreds of hours of your time. That’s why more and more people are signing up for LibertyID before they experience an identity theft. If you have a LibertyID membership, the time it takes to recover from identity theft is significantly reduced because we do the work for you.
Members rest easy knowing that if their identity is stolen, we will fix it. There’s no limit to the time or money we will spend restoring your identity to pre-event status. A certified restoration specialist will handle all of the legwork and keep you informed with regular status updates. LibertyID provides expert, full service, fully managed identity theft restoration to individuals, couples, extended families* and businesses. LibertyID has a 100% success rate in resolving all forms of identity fraud on behalf of our subscribers.
*Extended families – primary individual, their spouse/partner, both sets of parents (including those that have been deceased for up to a year), and all children under the age of 25
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