FTC Streamlines ID Theft Reporting by Eliminating Need for Police Report in Most Cases
The FTC is making it easier for consumers to report identity theft crimes by eliminating the need to file police reports in most cases, wrote Seena Gressin, attorney with the agency's Division of Consumer & Business Education, in a Thursday…
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blog post. When a consumer reports a crime through IdentityTheft.gov, the site will produce a personal recovery plan, pre-file letters to banks, retailers and others and create an official statement about the crime. "In most cases, you can use your Identity Theft Report in place of a police report to clear your account and credit records of transactions that resulted from the identity theft" because the FTC is a law enforcement agency, wrote Gressin. By streamlining the reporting process, she said victims can start recovering from the crime more quickly while freeing up local police to do other duties. But consumers should still report some ID theft crimes to the police if they know who the thief is or can provide information to help with the investigation, if their names were used by thieves during police encounters, or if a creditor, debt collector or others want a police report.