Credit fraud is perhaps the most common form or identity theft and the easiest to commit. Every year millions of Americans and Europeans are victimized by scammers the world over. These savvy criminal/hackers are a tight circle and trade information constantly on online black markets, where hundreds of thousands of credit cards and social security numbers are found.

Credit card fraud can be prevented with the help of credit monitoring services, but for those who are not yet signed to these services, you have rights under the law if you become a victim or credit fraud.

1. First thing you must do is get a police report filled out. Many states won’t have a specific law for this, but you must be persistent, as this report will entitle you to the following:

• A 7 year fraud alert
• A credit freeze
• Have inaccurate or fraudulent data blocked from your credit reports
• Get copies of all transactions records on fraudulent accounts

2. You have the right to have those fraudulent accounts removed from your credit report once you have gathered the necessary evidence about the fraud, including any collections notices or inquiries.

How to organize your credit fraud case:

• Keep a detailed log of your time and efforts, including all phone calls you receive or make, including names of people you talk to, their titles, phone numbers, company name and notes about the conversation.
• Mail all correspondence certified with a return receipt requested to confirm it has been delivered. Keep the postcards you receive back as evidence.
• Get confirmation of all conversations and agreements in writing, people leave companies all the time and that person may not be around to see that agreement through.
• Maintain an expense log, where you record the time and money you’re investing into resolving your credit fraud case.

3. Work with the right people. You’ll waste a lot of time if you hire or talk to the wrong people about your case. Insist on speaking with someone on the fraud or investigative side of a company or government agency. Customer service is never the right place to start discussing your credit fraud problem.

If your case is beyond credit card fraud and it involves other aspects of your identity, check the resources listed on the Identity Theft Victims page.

Once your case is resolved and your credit report is back to a healthy status, consider a solid identity theft or credit monitoring service that can provide advanced credit fraud alerts to help you act quickly.

The scanning technology employed by some of these providers is outstanding, being able to detect subscriber information on illegal information trading sites is one of the best benefits of the service.