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Identity theft is a terrible offense that continues to victimize the individual long after the theft has occurred.  The trouble begins when the theft is uncovered and continues as the individual attempts to correct the problems that are causing issues with their credit history.  If the individual is quick enough, they will be able to disclose the identity theft prior to the criminal attempting to use their information for fraudulent reasons.  The people that do not report identity theft fast enough may be denied a credit card or take significant hits to their credit history before they discover that identity theft has occurred.

Discovering Identity Theft

Generally, it is difficult to discover that identity theft has occurred because criminals are exceptional at covering their tracks.  The individual doesn’t know that their information has been compromised until the criminal has successfully obtained credit using their information or has used their personal information in other illegal manners.  The credit cards obtained using their personal information are typically sent to other homes, businesses, PO Boxes so the victim will never receive a statement for the credit card account or a default notice when the credit card balance is not paid.  If the telephone number entered on the application is fraudulent as well, the person won’t receive collection calls from the creditor and the creditor will have no way of getting in touch with the person whose information was used for the account.  It is very difficult to identify identity theft under these conditions.

Convincing The Creditor

If it is necessary to report identity theft, the person who has been victimized may have issues with persuading the creditor that they did not apply for the credit account and that they are not the person who has been using the account since its approval.  When identity theft is reported quickly, the individual can reduce the number of problems that they encounter by calling the creditor to cancel the account before the account is maxed out and it is easier to convince the customer service representative that their personal information has been compromised if the credit account has only been opened for a short period of time. 

Time Limitations

If identity theft is not reported quickly, a number of problems may occur.  Many creditors only acknowledge disputed charges made within a specific time period after the transaction has occurred.  If identity theft is not reported within that time period, the victim may be held responsible for the transactions made with that credit account.  Some creditors require verification that the person reporting the identity theft is not the individual who opened the accounts, which can be difficult to prove unless the thief has used entirely fraudulent addresses and telephone numbers for the account application.  If the debt has been sold to a collection agency before the identity theft is reported, the victim receive collection calls about the account for many years after the identity theft has occurred.