anyone ever heard of this law??? I found it in a security manual Ask the credit bureaus for names and phone numbers of credit grantors with whom fraudulent accounts have been opened. Ask the credit bureaus to remove inquiries that have been generated due to the fraudulent access. You may also ask the credit bureaus to notify those who have received your credit report in the last six months in order to alert them to the disputed and erroneous information (two years for employers). When you provide your police report to the credit bureaus, they must remove the fraudulent accounts from your credit report (Calif, Civil Code 1785.16(k). (See #3 below) 2. Creditors. Contact all creditors immediately with whom your name has been used fraudulently, by phone and in writing, You may be asked to fill out fraud affidavits. (No law requires these to be notarized at your own expense.) Get replacement cards with new account numbers for your own accounts that have been used fraudulently. Ask that old accounts be processed as "account closed at consumerâ??s request." (This is better than "card lost or stolen," because when this statement is reported to credit bureaus, it can be interpreted as blaming you for the loss.) Carefully monitor your mail and credit card bills for evidence of new fraudulent activity. Report it immediately to credit grantors. 3. Law enforcement. Report the crime to your local police or sheriffâ??s department. You might also need to report it to police departments where the crime occurred. Give them as much documented evidence as possible. Make sure the police report lists the fraud accounts. Get a copy of the report. Keep the phone number of your investigator handy and give it to creditors and others who require verification of your case. Credit card companies and banks may require you to show the report in order to verify the crime. It is a violation of federal law (18 USC 1028) and the laws of many states (such as Calif. Penal Code 530.5) to assume someoneâ??s identity for fraudulent purposes. But some police departments have been known to refuse to write reports on such crimes. Be persistent!
