When it comes to online scams or frauds the majority of the scams or fraud has one thing in common: most of them are trying to get personal information from you so that they can steal your identity for personal gain. A few of the online scams and frauds are designed to get money out of you without getting your personal information and some are designed to get your money and your personal identification. So one of the most important things that you are going to need to do if you have been a victim of online scams or frauds is to get your identity back, which can actually be a long and drawn out process.
Here are the ways you are going to need to go about getting your identity back if you have been a victim of identity theft due to online scams or frauds.
Criminal Identity Theft:
First thing you need to do is contact the arresting or citing law enforcement agency and tell them that this is a case of misidentification and that someone is using your identity.
Next you need to file an identity theft/impersonation police report. You will need to have a full set of fingerprints taken as well as having your picture taken and have them take a photocopy of your ID. After you have filed this report contact the other police agency to ask them to compare your information with that of the person that they have on record so that you can clear your innocence.
Determine the specific laws in your state that will allow you to clear your name
If the crime happened in another state or county go to your local police department and after they have completed the process have them mail a copy of the report and evidence to the other police department. You should also talk directly with the detective assigned to the case to see if you need to do anything else to clear your name.
You will also need to send out your letter of clearance to any agency that may have obtained your criminal record, such as information brokers, courts and law enforcement agencies, etc.
If you are having a hard time getting employment because of the criminal record you will need to request a Criminal Record Clearance Search through your state Department of Justice criminal records unit.
Financial identity theft:
The first thing that you need to do is to file a police report. There are certain things you are entitled to do with a police report, if your state doesn’t have a specific law dealing with identity theft you can still get them to file a police report if you are persistent enough. With a police report you will be able to get a seven-year fraud alert, use a credit freeze, have inaccurate or fraudulent information blocked from your credit report, and receive a copy of all application and transaction records on accounts opened fraudulently in your name.
The next thing you are going to need to do is to have the accounts removed from your credit report after you have proven that the accounts are fraudulent.
You are also going to want to close any of your accounts that were affected and contact the people who hold the accounts to inform them about what is going on.
You also need to contact all three credit bureaus to inform them that you have been a victim of identity theft.
But keep in mind that getting your identity back is not the only thing you are going to have to do if you have been a victim of online scams and frauds. The most important thing that you are going to need to do is to report the scam or fraud to your ISP, as well as the correct government office.
sup