Identity theft isn't just a fraud problem.
It's a credit-reporting problem.
The fraudster runs off. Then you spend years fighting Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, and the banks and debt collectors who keep reporting the lie. This site gives you the practical steps the government pamphlets leave out — and shows you how to use the Fair Credit Reporting Act to hold the credit bureaus and furnishers accountable when they refuse to fix your file.
Where do you want to start?
I think someone is using my identity
Pull your reports, freeze your credit, file the FTC Identity Theft Report — in the right order, with the right paper trail.
Detect & first stepsThe credit bureaus won't fix it
Disputes ignored or returned as 'verified'? That's where the FCRA actually starts working for you.
Dispute the right wayI want to know my rights
FCRA § 605B (4-day block), § 609(e) (free copies of the fraudster's application), § 611 (30-day reinvestigation), and damages of $100–$1,000 per willful violation.
Your FCRA rightsOther types of identity theft
Tax. Medical. Criminal. Child. Synthetic. Employment. Government benefits. Account takeover. One straightforward page for each.
Other ID theft typesI need a dispute letter
Use our generator to build a letter that puts you in position both to fix the report and to sue if it isn't fixed.
Dispute generatorHave questions about your rights?
If the credit bureaus or furnishers have ignored you, mishandled your dispute, or refused to remove identity-theft tradelines, you may have options under the FCRA.
Ask an FCRA LawyerWhy this site exists
The Federal Trade Commission, the CFPB, IdentityTheft.gov, and your state attorney general all publish helpful pages on identity theft. Read them. But they all stop short of the part most consumers actually need to understand:
- •The credit bureaus run nearly every dispute through an automated system (e-OSCAR) that collapses your story into a two- or three-digit code and hands it to the same furnisher that put the bad data on your report.
- •The furnisher "verifies" the data against its own (often wrong) records, and the bureau marks your dispute "verified."
- •The bureaus reject many sincere disputes as "frivolous" if the letters look templated or come from an unfamiliar email.
- •If you click through online dispute portals or sign up for "free" credit reports at the bureaus' own sites, you may have agreed to arbitration — quietly giving up your right to sue.
Our point of view, plainly stated
The fraudster commits the initial crime. The lasting harm comes from the credit reporting agencies and furnishers that keep reporting inaccurate information and refuse to fix it after they've been told. Those are the parties the FCRA gives you the right to hold accountable — for actual, statutory, and (when their conduct is willful) punitive damages, plus your attorney's fees.
Tools to help you fight back
What type of ID theft?
Answer a few questions to identify what kind of identity theft you're dealing with and get targeted next steps.
Take the ID theft checkLegal & credit glossary
FCRA, FDCPA, e-OSCAR, furnisher, mixed file — learn the terms that matter for your case.
Browse termsSuccess stories
Real stories from Virginians who fought back against identity theft and won.
Read storiesThe plan, in one page
- 1
Pull all three reports by mail from annualcreditreport.com. Don't use the credit bureaus' own websites — you may waive rights in the click-through terms.
- 2
Freeze your credit at all three bureaus (and at NCTUE, ChexSystems, LexisNexis, and Innovis if you can). Freezes are free.
- 3
File an FTC Identity Theft Report at IdentityTheft.gov. Print and save the PDF.
- 4
Send written disputes by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the CRA dispute addresses and separately to each furnisher. Attach the FTC Identity Theft Report and any police report.
- 5
Request copies of the fraudulent application and account records from the business that opened the fraud account under FCRA § 609(e) — they must give them to you free within 30 days.
- 6
Demand a § 605B block of every identity-theft item. The bureau must block within 4 business days of receiving a complete request.
- 7
Keep everything. Every report, every letter, every certified-mail receipt, every denial of credit, every hour you spent on the phone. That is your damages case.
- 8
Call a consumer lawyer if the disputes don't fix it. The FCRA shifts attorney's fees to the bureaus and furnishers when they violate the law — so you don't pay out of pocket.
By using this Site You agree to the Terms of Use, which prohibit access by consumer reporting agencies, furnishers with e-OSCAR accounts, and persons or entities acting on their behalf. The dispute-letter generator requires a sworn user attestation before use.