I challenged the CRA to verify and the CAs to validate. Without my permission they added Identity Theft alerts to my reports and obviously informed the OCs. Is this a violation? In addition the OCs are sending me letters that the debts do not appear to be the result of ID Theft. What's their game? Are the CRAs trying to shift responsibility for their errors onto an identity thief? Or is there some sort of better writeoff for the OC or CA in the event of ID Theft? Should I compose a letter clarifying that I'm not implying that I'm a victim of ID theft, rather a victim of innaccurate reporting and illegal collection practices?
How exactly did you dispute the trade line? That is the big question. Because if your dispute of the trade line brought up that the account is fraudulent in any way, then they are required to place the fraud alert on your credit file. In short, if you say that any account is fraudulent, or anything remotely similar, they are required under the FCRA to notate that you may have been the victim of ID THEFT; this is a lot larger issue under FACTA which goes into effect in December, so you may have caught the CRA dotting its i's and crossing its t's before FACTA goes into effect, by abiding by it sooner, rather than later.
The major effect, is that anyone who is going to issue you credit, and pulls that report is *SUPPOSED* to conclusively verify that you are the same person who is asking for credit, either by calling the phone #, or writing to the address that the CRA provides to verify that yes, you did in fact apply with them, or by making a conclusive verification of your ID when you apply in person. You are also temporarily removed from the PRM (depending on the CRA, that lasts from 6 months, to 2 years) system. The length of the fraud alert also varies depending on the CRA. When FACTA goes into effect completely, there are more things which go into effect when an account is disputed based on fraud. Remember though, what you want is for the company to 'PROVE' that the account really is yours, if you've got the OC scrambling around to try to come up with the documentation to 'PROVE' that the account isn't fraudulent, you've gotten them to get moving to do that. You can in writing request that the fraud alert be removed, after you've confirmed your identity.
