Correcting Fraud Information

The process for resolving fraudulent information on your credit report is set up through The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).  The FCRA also ensures that your credit report is not given out other parties except under legitimate business needs.  

When resolving a fraudulent credit report, both the consumer reporting company and the information provider (bank or credit card company) should be contacted because they are both responsible for correcting the problem.

A consumer reporting company will block any fraudulent information from appearing on your credit report if you:

1. Send them an Identity Theft Report, which you can get, from the Federal Trade Commission and a letter pointing out the fraudulent information.  Clearly state that the information does not relate to any transaction that you had previously made.

2. Provide proof of your identity.  This could include your social security number, driver’s license, birth certificate, or proof of residency.

3. An alternative to the blocking option is to use the “reinvestigation process.”  This process will begin to analyze the reported fraudulent transactions.

The consumer reporting company must block the fraudulent information within 4 days, and they will notify you of this block once it has been initiated.  At times, the company may choose not to block your credit files in which case they will notify you of this unapproval.

An information provider will stop reporting information to the consumer if you send them an Identity Theft Report with a letter that explains that they’ve been reporting identity theft information.  The information provider will not continue to report fraudulent information or collect debt from the fraudulent account if the consumer reporting company blocks the reported information.

This may only be a temporary situation.  If it ends up being that there was no fraudulent activity involved and the information provider learns of this, they may continue to report the information to the consumer reporting company.  

Placing a block on your credit report will freeze everything prevent both the information provider and the consumer reporting company from doing anything.  The information provider is not allowed to continue reporting your credit report.  In addition, if there is any debt related to the fraudulent account, the information provider will not be allowed to collect that debt or sell it to another collecting agency.