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ID Theft Complaint Instructions

Instructions for Filling Out and Printing the ID Theft Complaint Input Form, and How It Can Help Your Recover

How can my printed ID Theft Complaint form be used to create an Identity Theft Report?
Police reports typically do not contain a large amount of detail about accounts opened or misused by identity thieves. Your ID Theft Complaint can add the supporting detail to a police report that is necessary for an Identity Theft Report.  Use the Law Enforcement Cover Letter to help you explain to law enforcement how important it is for you to get a police report and the legal protections to which an Identity Theft Report entitles you.

Be aware that the law does not require the use of the FTC's ID Theft Complaint to create an Identity Theft Report. If your police department provides a report with details about the accounts and inaccurate information that come from your identity theft, you may not need to attach your ID Theft Complaint. Your police department may also use a different format to present the details of your crime, such as a written, signed statement by you. 

The important thing is to get an official police report that gives enough detail about the crime for the credit reporting agencies and the companies involved to verify that you are a victim— and to know which accounts and inaccurate information resulted from identity theft.  If the police report does not provide the right level of detail, you may find it difficult to get the protections you are entitled to with an Identity Theft Report.

What is the difference between the ID Theft Complaint, the Identity Theft Report, and the ID Theft Affidavit?
The ID Theft Complaint is the complaint form used by consumers online to file a complaint with the FTC.  The FTC makes the ID Theft Complaints we receive from victims available to other federal, state and local law enforcement officials nationwide.  The standardized printed ID Theft Complaint can be used in conjunction with a police report to create an Identity Theft Report that will help you recover more quickly.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act provides you with certain legal rights when you provide an Identity Theft Report to the three major credit reporting agencies or to companies where the identity thief misused your information.  Specifically, an Identity Theft Report can be used to permanently block fraudulent information from appearing on your credit report. An Identity Theft Report will also make sure these debts do not reappear on your credit report. An Identity Theft Report can prevent a company from continuing to collect debts that result from identity theft, or selling them to others for collection. It’s also needed to place an extended fraud alert on your credit report.

The ID Theft Affidavit is a less detailed version of an Identity Theft Report.  Companies that opened fraudulent accounts for the thief may require you to provide an ID Theft Affidavit and a police report before giving you copies of the identity theft-related application or transaction records they possess.  An ID Theft Affidavit can also be used in lieu of an Identity Theft Report to absolve your debt where an identity thief opened a new account in your name, if you do not wish to file a police report. However, you do not get the legal rights listed above if you use an ID Theft Affidavit. 

How does the FTC use the information I provide?
The FTC enters the information you provide into the Identity Theft Clearinghouse, an electronic database. The information you submit is shared with FTC attorneys and investigators. It also may be shared with employees of various federal, state, or local law enforcement or regulatory authorities. The FTC also may share your information with some private entities, such as consumer reporting companies and any companies you may have complained about, where it believes that sharing information might help resolve identity theft-related problems. You may be contacted by the FTC or any of the agencies or private entities to whom your complaint has been referred. In some limited circumstances, including requests from Congress, the FTC may be required by law to disclose information you submit.

Records in the Identity Theft Clearinghouse are covered under the Privacy Act of 1974. In general, the Privacy Act prohibits unauthorized disclosures of the records it protects. It also gives individuals the right to review records about themselves. Learn more about your Privacy Act rights and the FTC's Privacy Act procedures online or by contacting the FTC's Freedom of Information Act Office: 202-326-2430.

You have the option to submit your information anonymously. However, if you do not provide your name and contact information, law enforcement agencies and other organizations will not be able to contact you for more information to help in identity theft investigations and prosecutions, and you may have difficulty obtaining an Identity Theft Report.

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Instructions for Completing the Complaint Form

What do I need to do before I fill out the online Complaint?
You should try to review at least one of your credit reports before filling out your Complaint. Your credit report can provide information about the accounts that resulted from your identity theft, such as the names of companies where accounts were opened, what types they were, the account numbers, and dollar amounts charged. Your credit report also contains clues about the identity and location of the thief.  You might have received other information, such as collection notices on accounts you did not open or have not used, that are good sources of information. Use this information when you fill out your Complaint and take copies of it with you when you go to file your police report.

What information do I need to put in the Complaint form?

You should try to provide as much detail in your Complaint as possible.  Leave blank any questions that do not apply to you, that you prefer to not answer, or for which you don’t have answers.  The sections of the ID Theft Complaint Form are described below.

“How Do We Reach You?:”
Please provide your current information. "Suffix" refers to Jr., Sr., III., etc. To keep your Social Security number safe, it will be encrypted in the FTC's database.  For your protection, when you print your ID Theft Complaint form, the Social Security number will be blank. Only write your Social Security number on your Complaint form when you need to, such as at the police station, or when sending the form to a company.

“Complete if different from above when the events took place:”
Complete this section ONLY if your name and/or contact information has changed since the time the theft was committed.

1.  “Types of Identity Theft You Have Experienced:”
Check the boxes for all the ways that the identity thief used your information to commit fraud. Also say whether you think the identity thief used the Internet to commit any of the types of fraud you have checked.

2.  “Summary of Complaint:”
Please describe briefly what happened in your case. Include information about how you discovered the crime, how you think the thief got your information, when and where the thief used your information, and any problems you have had resolving issues with companies, credit reporting agencies, or other entities.

3.  “Details of the Identity Theft:”
Please answer each section of question number 3 as completely as you can:

a. Asks if you gave someone permission to use your information, which might have resulted in the activity you are describing in the complaint.

b. Asks if you gained anything from the events described in this report – for example, whether you received any goods or services obtained using your information.

c. Asks whether your information was lost or stolen and, if so, on what approximate date.

d. Asks if you will be willing to work with law enforcement if the case is investigated or prosecuted.

e. Asks if you know who used your information.

f. Asks for the date of when you first discovered you might be a victim of identity theft. An approximate date is fine.

g. Asks when the thief first began to use your information. An approximate date is fine.

h. Asks you to add up all of the different ways the thief used your information. For example, if the thief opened two credit cards and two bank accounts, the total would be four.

i. Asks you to add up all of your out-of-pocket expenses related to the identity theft. For example, if you have spent $4.00 on stamps, $20.00 on notarizing documents, and $40.00 paying bounced check fees that your bank will not reimburse, the total would be $64.00. A rough estimate is fine.

j. Asks you to add up the estimated financial value of all of the things the thief obtained with your information. For example, if the thief charged $500 on your credit cards, withdrew $250 from your bank account, and opened a new credit card and charged $300 on that card, the total would be $1,050. A rough estimate is fine. 

k. Asks you to indicate how you think the thief got access to your personal information. Choose only one way.

l. Asks you to think about the problems, besides losing money, that have resulted from your identity theft. You can select more than one by holding down the "Ctrl" key when you click on your selections.

4.  “The Identity Thief:”
Provide as much information as you have about the person who committed the identity theft. If you know the person who committed the crime, please use the pull-down list to indicate your relationship to that person. The person's Social Security number is not collected on this Complaint form. You will have the chance to write it in on your printed form. 

5.  “Contacts:”
Use the check boxes to indicate which credit reporting agencies you have contacted and what steps you have taken. If you have had problems with the credit reporting agencies, such as difficulties communicating with them or resolving the errors on your credit reports, please check the boxes by “Problem With Credit Bureau.” Please describe any problems you had with the credit reporting agencies in the "Summary of Complaint" section, which you can reach by scrolling back up the screen.

“Inaccurate Information on Credit Report:”
The credit reporting agencies will remove the inaccurate information that you list here from your credit report because it is the result of your identity theft.  "Personal Information" refers to errors in your name, date of birth, Social Security number, or address, or the fraudulent addition of someone else's personal information.  "Companies that requested your credit report without your knowledge" refers to credit report inquiries caused by the identity thief trying to use your personal information to open accounts.

“Law Enforcement Report Information:”
If you contacted the police before filling out your ID Theft Complaint, please enter the name of the police department and the police report number you were assigned.  If you attempted to file a police report, but the police would not take the report and you do not have a report number, please indicate that in the box available. 

Information that you enter in this section of the online form will not print out on the ID Theft Complaint, so you will need to write it in on your printed form.  However, the FTC needs this information in its database, so we ask you to enter it in your online Complaint.

When you print your ID Theft Complaint, it will include a blank section entitled “Law Enforcement Report Information.” This section is to be filled out by the police when you file your police report in person. 

Within two business days of submitting your online Complaint to the FTC, the FTC will send you a response by email or postal mail that will include the FTC Reference Number assigned to your Complaint.  You should write your FTC Reference Number in the “Universal Report Number” block that is in the “Law Enforcement Report Information” section of your printed ID Theft Complaint.

6.  “Companies:”
The credit reporting agencies will block the accounts listed in this box from appearing on your credit report because the accounts result from your identity theft.  Each company or government agency where the thief used your information should be listed separately.  Provide as many details as possible about the frauds that were committed.  If more than one account was opened at an institution, list each account separately.  If you need to report more than three companies, please fill out a second Complaint form, but include only your contact information and information requested in this section. 

  • “Type of Account:” Choose one option from the pull-down menu. If the type of fraud the thief committed is not on this list, write it in the space for "Other ID Theft" that will appear on your printed form.
  • “New Account?:” Indicate whether this account was a new account opened in your name (as opposed to an account you already had that was misused by the thief).
  • “Date Issued or Misused:” Provide the date that the new account was fraudulently opened or your existing account was first misused.
  • “Amount Thief Obtained:” Estimate the dollar value of the goods, services, charges, withdrawals, or transfers that were fraudulently obtained or made by the identity thief.
  • “Credit Limit:” Provide the credit limit, if applicable, of the account that was opened or misused.
  • “Contact Person:” Provide the name of a contact person at this company or institution.
  • “Contact Telephone:” Provide the telephone number of the person listed above.
  • “Account Number:” This information is not requested in the online form, and is not entered into the database.  However, space is given on the printed form for you to write in the account number.  This helps the credit reporting agencies identify which specific accounts should be blocked from appearing on your credit report.  It also tells the company which account you are disputing.
  • “Notifications:” Indicate whether you have notified the company – either by phone or by letter - to let them know that the thief used your information at that company.

7.  “Documentation:”
Check the boxes to indicate whether you can provide identification and proof of residency.  Use the pull-down box to choose the type of identification that you will use.  If you have already filed a police report, indicate which type of identification you presented to the police at that time. The police will want to verify that you are who you say you are. Companies reviewing your Identity Theft Report will probably also require proof of your identity.  You should be prepared to provide photo identification and something that shows the address where you live. If you do not have photo identification, you can use other identification issued by the government.

What do I need to do to send the Complaint to the FTC?
When you are satisfied with your responses and have completed as much of the information on the Complaint form as you can, hitting the "Submit" button will send the complaint to the FTC.  If you hit the "Reset" button, all of the information you have entered will be wiped off the screen and disappear.

How do I print this form?
 When you have submitted your online Complaint to the FTC, it will reappear on the screen in a different format.  The information will be displayed in boxes and checkboxes. You will have the option to print it out.  

You may want to verify that the margins have been set correctly in your web browser before you print. Use the "Print Preview" button located in the "File" section of your toolbar to do this. If you find that your margins have been set incorrectly, you may correct them by using the "Page Setup" button located in the "File" section of your toolbar.