Federal Trade Commission

www.consumer.gov/idtheft

(877) ID-THEFT or (877) 438-4338

The Federal Trade Commission website provides information to "deter, detect, and defend" against identity theft. The website also provides helpful links for victims of identity theft.

Postal Inspection Service

postalinspectors.uspis.gov

Website contains information about mail fraud.

Social Security Administration

www.socialsecurity.gov

(800) 772-1213

Social Security Administration website provides information about and guidelines for reporting Social Security fraud.

Secret Service

www.treas.gov/usss/financial_crimes.shtml

Website provides information about identity theft and many other types of fraud.

Credit Reporting Companies:

Equifax

www.equifax.com (800) 525-6285

Experian

www.experian.com (888) 397-3742

Trans Union

www.transunion.com (800) 680-7289

AnnualCreditReport.com

www.annualcreditreport.com

This central site allows you to request a free credit file disclosure, commonly called a credit report, once every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian and Trans Union.

Major Credit Card Companies

• Visa (800) 847-2911

• Discover (800) DISCOVER or (800) 347-2683

• MasterCard (800) MC-ASSIST or (800) 622-7747

• American Express (800) 554-AMEX or (800) 554-2639

Check Verification Companies

• Global Payments (800) 638-4600
• Chex Systems (800) 428-9623
• CrossCheck (707) 586-0551
• International Check Services (800) 526-5380
• SCAN (800) 262-7771
• TeleCheck (800) 710-9898

Helpful National Sites

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

www.privacyrights.org/identity.htm

United States Department of Justice

www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/websites/idtheft.html

Take Charge: Fighting Back Against Identity Theft (FTC)

www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/idtheft/idt04.shtm

U.S. Department of Education (for students)

www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/misused/index.html

Identity Theft and Your Social Security Number

www.ssa.gov/pubs/10064.html

Better Business Bureau

www.bbbonline.org/idtheft/index.asp

Help prevent identity theft from phishing scams (Microsoft)

www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/phishing/identify.mspx

National Conference of State Legislators

www.ncsl.org/programs/lis/privacy/idtheft.htm

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/fighttheft/