01-03-2008, 01:47 PM
I've had my identity stolen 3 times (or the same thief did it 3 times about 4 months apart)
Watching a Dateline story a while back gave some insight on how common this is.
From my experience, I'd suggest contacting the CC company and upgrade the "disputed charge" to identity theft which will put it in their fraud department.
Then, for what it's worth, notify all 3 credit reporting agencies that your identity has been stolen and reguest a credit report from each - should be free because of the identity theft. Have them put a temporary freze on your account. (not that it does much good - several charges were made with the freeze in effect and I was able to open an account without question - which was stolen about a year later).
Finally, call your local police and file an identity theft report even if you have to go down to the station in person as they are sometimes reluctant to deal with the paperwork. Save the case number to give to the CC company and for any future fraudulent charges.
My case was a PITA but so far has cost me only time and aggravation with over $20,000 in fradulent charges/attempted account creation. They had everything on me as well as CC numbers that had never been used.
I also canceled several CCs that were active but that I wasn't using regularly. Closing accounts could do some temporary harm to your credit score, but, coupled with the theft report shouldn't be much of a problem long term.
Best of luck!
Watching a Dateline story a while back gave some insight on how common this is.
From my experience, I'd suggest contacting the CC company and upgrade the "disputed charge" to identity theft which will put it in their fraud department.
Then, for what it's worth, notify all 3 credit reporting agencies that your identity has been stolen and reguest a credit report from each - should be free because of the identity theft. Have them put a temporary freze on your account. (not that it does much good - several charges were made with the freeze in effect and I was able to open an account without question - which was stolen about a year later).
Finally, call your local police and file an identity theft report even if you have to go down to the station in person as they are sometimes reluctant to deal with the paperwork. Save the case number to give to the CC company and for any future fraudulent charges.
My case was a PITA but so far has cost me only time and aggravation with over $20,000 in fradulent charges/attempted account creation. They had everything on me as well as CC numbers that had never been used.
I also canceled several CCs that were active but that I wasn't using regularly. Closing accounts could do some temporary harm to your credit score, but, coupled with the theft report shouldn't be much of a problem long term.
Best of luck!