Credit Alert Reporting Agencies

If you are possibly a victim of fraud or identity theft, each of the major credit reporting agencies can place an "alert" on your credit reports, according to both the Federal Trade Commission and Experian.

Types

In the United States, the three major credit reporting agencies are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, according to the FTC.

Function

A credit reporting agency must set a "fraud alert" upon written or oral notice that a consumer might be the victim of a financial-related crime, according to the FTC. These alerts inform current and prospective creditors that they should take extra steps to confirm the customer's identity before making account changes or issuing new accounts.

Identification

Once you place the fraud alert, you are entitled to receive a free credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies, according to the FTC. Review your credit reports carefully and write letters to the credit reporting agencies if you find reports of accounts that you truly did not open or spot other types of inaccuracies; upon request, the credit reporting agencies can mask all but the last four digits of your Social Security number from your files.