Before you start
US consumers facing a new credit account opened through identity theft. These notes do not determine fraud, submit an FTC report, close accounts, place freezes or make legal findings. Unauthorized charges on an existing account may require a separate billing or transaction-dispute process.
1. Contact the company and secure affected access
Ask the verified fraud department to investigate and close the fraudulent account. Explain that you did not open or authorize it, if true. Ask what documents its secure process needs and request written confirmation of the resolution. Do not rely on contact details supplied in an unexpected message that claims to reveal the theft.
Protect email and existing financial accounts that may be compromised using the providers’ official recovery and security controls. Address suspicious transactions promptly with the relevant provider. Do not move money to a supposed “safe account” at a caller’s direction. If you only see an unfamiliar name or address, check the mixed-file guide; an unknown item alone is not proof of identity theft.
2. Reduce the risk of more new accounts
A credit freeze is free to place and lift. Request it separately with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion through their official processes; one bureau does not freeze the other two. It restricts access to your credit file for new credit, with exceptions, and remains until lifted. It does not stop every type of fraud or protect an existing account from takeover.
A free initial fraud alert is available when you suspect identity theft and lasts one year. Contact one nationwide bureau; it must tell the other two. An identity-theft victim with an FTC identity-theft report or police report can request a free extended alert lasting seven years. Alerts prompt identity verification rather than restrict report access. You can use an alert with a freeze; see the FTC guide for current official routes.
3. Create the official report and preserve the evidence
Go directly to IdentityTheft.gov, the FTC’s recovery service. Report what happened truthfully and keep the Identity Theft Report and recovery plan it provides. Follow any applicable instructions concerning local law enforcement. An FTC report is not created by filling in our worksheet, and a report by itself does not send every needed request to creditors or bureaus.
Obtain your reports through the authorized route in the FTC credit-report guide. Mark the fraudulent account and related information on each affected report. Keep complete identifying records privately. Official recipients may need identification; submit it only through their verified secure processes, never here.
4. Prepare the separate request to block reporting
Blocking identity-theft information under FCRA § 605B concerns identified information in a credit report. It is different from a credit freeze, which restricts access for new credit. For each affected bureau, use the official identity-theft process and provide the following package:
Subject to the section’s exceptions, the bureau must block the identified information no later than four business days after receiving all four elements. The discovery date, FTC report date or a saved draft does not start that requirement by itself. Keep receipt evidence and any request for missing material. This chronology does not decide when the legal requirement began or calculate its deadline.
- Appropriate proof of your identity, supplied only to the official recipient.
- A copy of an identity-theft report.
- Identification of the specific information that resulted from the alleged theft.
- Your truthful statement that the information does not relate to a transaction you made.
5. Read the result and any reason for refusal
A bureau may decline or undo a block if it reasonably determines the request or block was made in error, relied on a material misrepresentation, or you obtained goods, services or money from the transaction. It must notify you promptly if it declines or rescinds under that provision. The statute also has special rules for resellers and check-services companies; this guide focuses on the nationwide bureaus.
Use this route only for information resulting from identity theft. Do not describe a legitimate debt or a simple mixed-file error as theft. Compare the response with the specific information requested for blocking. If the bureau identifies a missing document or factual issue, address that issue with truthful supporting records; a refusal does not by itself settle every question of liability.
6. Keep account resolution and report correction separate
Save the company’s closure or fraud-resolution letter, bureau responses and updated reports. Confirm each affected report separately. A freeze confirmation is not proof that a fraudulent entry was blocked; a bureau block is not the company’s account-closure confirmation. Continue checking for new misuse through the official recovery plan.
If reporting remains inaccurate or incomplete, keep the request, response and unresolved item together. Before a CFPB complaint against a reporting agency about inaccurate or incomplete reporting, first dispute directly with the reporting agency and check the current complaint instructions. The reporting-complaint notice also asks whether you submitted the dispute more than 45 days ago or it is no longer pending; if neither applies, it says not to submit that complaint yet. Treat collector notices and court papers separately and promptly; do not wait for the FTC or a credit bureau to answer before addressing a court deadline.
Fictional example: three separate confirmations
A reader receives a welcome letter for “account A,” which they did not open. They contact the issuer using its independently verified website and report suspected identity theft. They secure affected access, request freezes from all three bureaus and use IdentityTheft.gov. Account A appears on two reports, so they prepare the full blocking package for each affected bureau.
The record eventually contains an issuer resolution letter, freeze confirmations and responses about the two blocking requests. The reader labels each for what it actually confirms and checks updated reports. If one response asks for appropriate identity proof, that official request is handled separately; the reader does not mark that bureau’s block complete or invent a deadline from the discovery date.
Before you finish
- Reach the company’s verified fraud department promptly.
- Protect compromised access and address suspicious existing-account activity.
- Request freezes separately and use the appropriate alert route.
- Keep the official FTC report and recovery instructions privately.
- Send all four blocking-package elements to each affected bureau.
- Check separate confirmations for account resolution, freezes and reporting.
My new-account identity-theft record
Use optional generic labels and document references. Never enter names, addresses, account or Social Security numbers, passwords, PINs, recovery codes or identity documents.
Entries are optional and stay in this page's memory. This worksheet does not send or save them. Use generic account labels and document labels. Do not enter account numbers, Social Security numbers, PINs, access codes, passwords, names or addresses, and do not upload documents. Downloading or printing creates a copy you control.
Take the next action yourself through the official service. Downloading or printing this record does not report theft, freeze credit, close an account or block information.
Put up to four events in order
Write a short fact for each event, such as “downloaded the report,” “sent the dispute” or “received a response.” Dates and document labels are optional. Use generic labels; do not enter identifying information or upload documents.
This is a factual log. Dated events sort from oldest to newest. Events on the same date keep their entry order because times are unknown. Undated events appear separately, in entry order. A document reference is your own label, not proof that a record was verified.
Enter actual dates as YYYY-MM-DD. If a date is unknown, leave it blank; do not invent one. Dates are calendar dates, with no time zone or time-of-day comparison. This record does not calculate a legal deadline or schedule reminders.
Questions you may have
Does a freeze remove the fraudulent account?
No. A freeze limits certain access to the file for new credit. Ask the issuer to resolve the fraudulent account and use the separate identity-theft blocking process for information already reported.
Must I file a police report before doing anything else?
Do not postpone urgent protection. Use IdentityTheft.gov and the verified company process promptly. An FTC identity-theft report can support recovery and blocking requests; follow the official instructions and any local law-enforcement steps applicable to your circumstances.
Can this page submit my report or verify the fraud?
No. It records optional facts and document labels. Only actions you take through the official recipient’s process create a submission; keep that recipient’s confirmation.