 Search the Knowledgebase |
 Browse by Category |
|
|
|
|
|
| I got scammed; how can I protect myself in the future? |
|
Article Details
Last Updated
21st of October, 2009
|
| User Opinions (0 votes) |
|
No users have voted.
|
|
Thank you for rating this answer.
|
According to our credit experts, any company requiring pre-payments should be investigated thoroughly with the Better Business Bureau.
A requirement of pre-payments and a payment address outside the United States are indications of potential scams.
Here are suggestions to follow if you provided any of your private, personal information to such a company:
1. File a complaint with PhoneBusters at 1.888.495.8501. You should call (not e-mail or write) PhoneBusters because they need to collect your story with all of the details. They want to hear your story as soon as possible after the transaction occurs, so please do this quickly! The sooner you file a complaint, the easier it is for them to track and find the scam-lenders. Make sure you have all of your notes and any documents, phone numbers, or addresses you were given.
2. File a complaint with the FTC at 1-877-382-4357; TTY: 1-866-653-4261 and www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
3. Contact your state Attorney General. If the scam-lenders are caught, the authorities can extradite them to the states where the illegal activities were perpetrated if the Attorney General has the information early enough.
4. Spread the word everywhere and to anyone you can. The name of the company is not important because the scam lenders will change their name and number quickly to avoid being caught. The type of crime is more common than you may think.
If you think you may be a victim of one of these scam organizations, place a 90-day fraud alert with the credit bureaus. Here are the identity fraud phone numbers:
* Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
* Experian: 1-888-397-3742
* TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289
You may also want to consider signing up for credit monitoring to ensure that your credit is protected from potential identity theft, which is now considered the fastest-growing crime in America.
|
The article has been updated successfully.
