Questions and Answers

Recognizing Fraud Alerts

How to Identify Fraud Alerts

Here are some important tips on How to recognize fraud alerts, for shoppers and merchants.

What are fraud alerts and victim statements?

Fraud alerts let creditors know that fraud has been associated with your credit report. As a result, creditors may confirm that they're dealing with you and not an imposter before granting credit or other services.

Victim statements tell creditors to contact you before granting credit or other services. Victim statements may cause delays in getting credit while the creditor tries to contact you. If you have a cell phone, you may want to include that number in your statement.

The following charts describe the current fraud alert and victim statement placement procedures of the credit bureaus. Please note: TransUnion and Equifax use a combined fraud alert and victim statement. Be sure to confirm these procedures when you contact the credit bureaus as they may change.

INITIAL ALERT

RENEWALS

Source: FTC

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure online database and investigative tool available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

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