The American consumers who have good credit history for them credit card fraud can be a dreadful experience. Many people among them have recent enlisted with a debt relief program to eliminate their debts. And they might have worked hard to rebuild their credit score immediately after eradicating their financial woes. But a credit card fraud can cause a permanent financial damage. Therefore, the consumers should know the necessary steps that can be taken while reporting a case of credit card fraud.
Here are six steps that you need to take while reporting a credit card fraud:
- You need to take out a free online credit report or you can call any of the credit report agencies like AnnualCreditReport, Experian and Equifax to know about your status. You are eligible to get a free credit report annually.
- Your second step would be to lodge a complaint at the local police department. You can file complaint over the phone at many places. Once you have filed a complaint make sure that you get a hard copy of your police report.
- You should notify your bank regarding the fraud and instruct them to freeze the accounts. You can change the account number so that the frauds fail to access your account.
- You can find the helpline number at the back of the credit card and call the customer care to keep track of the charges levied on your credit card.
- You can report fraud to the Federal Trade Commission if your card has been misused by the crook. The FTC can help you give extra information regarding your credit history.
- Make sure you immediately inform the credit card company that your card has been stolen or misused and put a fraud alert on it.
Therefore, these are the few essential points that you need to keep in mind while reporting for credit card fraud.
