| How to Report a Stolen Social Security Card Oct 7th 2012, 12:00 If your Social Security card is stolen along with other belongings, such as a purse or wallet, you should immediately file a police report and contact a credit reporting agency. If you discover your stolen Social Security card is being used to perpetrate identity theft, you should report it to the credit reporting agencies and to any financial companies with which you have accounts. You should also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and file a police report with details of the identity theft. Take the following steps to report a stolen Social Security card and protect yourself in the event that your Social Security number is being misused. - Contact one of the following 3 credit reporting agencies: TransUnion at (800) 680-7289, Equifax at (800) 525-6285 or Experian at (888) 397-3742. You should do this as soon as you discover your Social Security card has been stolen.
- Place a fraud alert on your credit report to prevent someone from using your stolen Social Security number to open accounts in your name.
- Request a free copy of your credit report from each of the credit reporting agencies, and carefully review them for activity you did not authorize. Verify that the personal information on the report is accurate. Have any fraudulent or inaccurate information removed from the credit report.
- Continue to monitor your credit reports at least every 3 months during the first year after a Social Security card is stolen and at least annually thereafter.
- Speak to someone in the fraud department at companies where your financial accounts have been tampered with or accounts were opened without your authorization.
- When requesting an account to be closed or fraudulent charges to be removed, send the request in writing and include copies of documents that support your claims. Keep records of all communication and correspondence.
- Notify the FTC about your identity theft. The FTC collects information that can lead to an investigation or prosecution of identity thieves but does not resolve individual cases relating to a stolen Social Security card.
- Go to the FTC website at www.ftc.gov.
- Select the "Consumer Protection" tab at the top of the page, and then click on the "File a Complaint" tab.
- Click on the "FTC Complaint Assistant" button to launch the online form.
- Answer the questions and provide information about the misuse of a stolen Social Security card.
- File a police report if your Social Security number was used illegally, accounts were fraudulently opened or charges were fraudulently made and reported to the credit agencies. This report gives you legal rights when it is provided to the three major credit reporting agencies and companies where your Social Security number was used illegally.
- Bring with you to the police station a printed ID theft complaint filed with the FTC.
- To lessen the chance of it being stolen, the Social Security Administration recommends that you do not carry your Social Security card with you.
- The Social Security Administration will issue you a new Social Security number if you can provide evidence that someone is misusing your number. However, this does not immediately resolve all your problems because banks, employers and the government will still have records under your old number.
- An initial fraud alert on your credit report lasts for at least 90 days. You can place an extended fraud alert that lasts for 7 years if you've been a victim of identity theft and provide the consumer reporting agency with a police report (a copy of an FTC theft complaint may be sufficient if you do not have a police report).
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