If You Are a Victim of Credit Fraud
Credit fraud is someone using your identity or account to borrow. The official start is IdentityTheft.gov — not a Facebook group. The FTC report is the document that unlocks extended alerts and tradeline blocks.
Hour one
Call the fraud number on every compromised card or loan (the number on the statement, not a text). Close or freeze those accounts. Change passwords and MFA. Then file at IdentityTheft.gov. CFPB’s victim page matches this order.
Lock the file
Freeze Equifax, Experian, TransUnion (each). Place a fraud alert with one bureau. With the FTC report, request the seven-year extended alert. Freeze is the stronger bar against new accounts.
Strip the fake tradelines
Pull all three reports. List every account and inquiry you did not open. Send the identity theft dispute with the FTC report. Direct-dispute furnishers who keep reporting. Ask for a block, not a shrug.
Tax, unemployment, medical
Those are parallel tracks (IRS, state labor, providers). This playbook is the credit-file track. Keep one folder: confirmations, green cards, dates.