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I became a victim of identity theft in 2006. I filed a complaint with the FTC and the police as well. All the 3 CRAs were informed. Though I did not have to pay for debts that were not mine but sadly from then on my credit score has kept falling. Recently it is as low as 580. I have made regular payments apart from a few missed payments that was about 6 months back.
Hi fred,
I think you should pull out your credit report and look for any errors on it. You must look for the negative items on your report that are keeping your score low. It is possible that some accounts opened during identity theft, are still being reported. In that case, you should dispute the matter directly with the credit bureaus.
You will have to send a "Dispute Letter" to the 3 major credit reporting bureaus. You should mention clearly the items you are disputing. You must also enclose copies of the id theft complaints, filed with the FTC and the police.
Hi Fred,
It is necessary to review your credit report regularly, after an identity theft. It is possible that the identity thief has again opened some new accounts in your name. In that case, the accounts will appear on our report, and you won't know before you are contacted by a collection agency. So the best way to prevent id theft is to monitor your credit report. To know more, you can read the article here on Identity Theft.