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From the Department of Justice www.ojp.gov
What Should I Do If I’ve Become A Victim Of Identity Theft?
If you think you’ve become a victim of identity theft or fraud, act immediately to minimize the damage to your personal funds and financial accounts, as well as your reputation. Here’s a list — based in part on a checklist prepared by the California Public Interest Research Group (CalPIRG) and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse — of some actions that you should take right away:
- Contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to report the situation, whether Online,
- By telephone toll-free at 1-877-ID THEFT (877-438-4338) or TDD at 202-326-2502, or
- By mail to Consumer Response Center, FTC, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.
Under the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act , the Federal Trade Commission is responsible for receiving and processing complaints from people who believe they may be victims of identity theft, providing informational materials to those people, and referring those complaints to appropriate entities, including the major credit reporting agencies and law enforcement agencies. For further information, please check the FTC’s identity theft Web pages . You can also call your local office of the FBI or the U.S. Secret Service to report crimes relating to identity theft and fraud.
You may also need to contact other agencies for other types of identity theft:
- Your local office of the Postal Inspection Service if you suspect that an identity thief has submitted a change-of-address form with the Post Office to redirect your mail, or has used the mail to commit frauds involving your identity;
- The Social Security Administration if you suspect that your Social Security number is being fraudulently used (call 800-269-0271 to report the fraud);
- The Internal Revenue Service if you suspect the improper use of identification information in connection with tax violations (call 1-800-829-0433 to report the violations).
Call the fraud units of the three principal credit reporting companies:
- To report fraud, call (800) 525-6285 or write to P.O. Box 740250, Atlanta, GA 30374-0250.
- To order a copy of your credit report ($8 in most states), write to P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241, or call (800) 685-1111.
- To dispute information in your report, call the phone number provided on your credit report.
- To opt out of pre-approved offers of credit, call (888) 567-8688 or write to Equifax Options, P.O. Box 740123, Atlanta GA 30374-0123.
Experian (formerly TRW)
- To report fraud, call (888) EXPERIAN or (888) 397-3742, fax to (800) 301-7196, or write to P.O. Box 1017, Allen, TX 75013.
- To order a copy of your credit report ($8 in most states): P.O. Box 2104, Allen TX 75013, or call (888) EXPERIAN.
- To dispute information in your report, call the phone number provided on your credit report.
- To opt out of pre-approved offers of credit and marketing lists, call (800) 353-0809 or (888) 5OPTOUT or write to P.O. Box 919, Allen, TX 75013.
- To report fraud, call (800) 680-7289 or write to P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92634.
- To order a copy of your credit report ($8 in most states), write to P.O. Box 390, Springfield, PA 19064 or call: (800) 888-4213.
- To dispute information in your report, call the phone number provided on your credit report.
- To opt out of pre-approved offers of credit and marketing lists, call (800) 680-7293 or (888) 5OPTOUT or write to P.O Box 97328, Jackson, MS 39238.
Contact all creditors with whom your name or identifying data have been fraudulently used. For example, you may need to contact your long-distance telephone company if your long-distance calling card has been stolen or you find fraudulent charges on your bill.
Contact all financial institutions where you have accounts that an identity thief has taken over or that have been created in your name but without your knowledge. You may need to cancel those accounts, place stop-payment orders on any outstanding checks that may not have cleared, and change your Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card, account, and Personal Identification Number (PIN).
Contact the major check verification companies (listed in the CalPIRG-Privacy Rights Clearinghouse checklist) if you have had checks stolen or bank accounts set up by an identity thief. In particular, if you know that a particular merchant has received a check stolen from you, contact the verification company that the merchant uses:
- CheckRite — (800) 766-2748
- ChexSystems — (800) 428-9623 (closed checking accounts)
- CrossCheck — (800) 552-1900
- Equifax — (800) 437-5120
- National Processing Co. (NPC) — (800) 526-5380
- SCAN — (800) 262-7771
- TeleCheck — (800) 710-9898
Where Can I Find Out More About Identity Theft And Fraud?
A number of government and private organizations have information about various aspects of identity theft and fraud: how it can occur, what you can do about it, and how to guard your privacy. To help you learn more about the problem and its solutions, we’ve attached a list of Web sites that you might find interesting and informative on identity theft and related topics.
[Note: All Web sites to which these pages cross-link are included as a service for the reader. Cross-links to non-governmental sites do not constitute an endorsement or approval of their content, or of the organizations responsible for that content, by the Department of Justice.]
Government
United States:
Canada:
Non-Government
United States:
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National Auto Fraud And Theft Prevention System
For Consumers
What is NMVTIS?
Consumers’ Benefits
Understanding State Differences
Where to Access the State’s Full Vehicle Title RecordNMVTIS Search
To conduct a NMVTIS search, select a provider (listed alphabetically). As additional providers are added, they will be listed here.
Auto Data Direct, Inc.
www.add123.com
CARCO Group, Inc.
www.autotitleinfo.comPlease note that when you select a provider listed above, you are leaving the U.S. Department of Justice web site.
To read the NMVTIS Consumer Access Product Disclaimer, click here.
What is NMVTIS?
The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) is an electronic system that provides consumers with valuable information about a vehicle’s condition and history. Prior to purchasing a vehicle, NMVTIS allows consumers to find information on the vehicle’s title, most recent odometer reading, brand history, and, in some cases, historical theft data.A “brand” is a descriptive label that states assign to a vehicle to identify the vehicle’s current or prior condition, such as “junk,” “salvage,” “flood,” or another designation. By capturing into one system specific information from multiple entities (state motor vehicle titling agencies, automobile recyclers, junk and salvage yards, and insurance carriers), NMVTIS offers states and consumers protection from title fraud, offers detection of stolen vehicles from being retitled, and makes it more difficult for criminals to use stolen vehicles for criminal purposes. For example:
- After Hurricane Katrina, authorities reported truckloads of flooded vehicles being taken out of Louisiana to
other states as far away as the upper Midwest, where they were dried out, cleaned, and readied for sale to unsuspecting consumers in states that do not brand flood vehicles. Prosepctive purchasers of these vehicles may not have known that the vehicles had been subjected to a saltwater flood that made the vehicles’ electrical systems (including their airbag sensors) more prone to failure. NMVTIS is designed to prevent vehicle histories such as these from being “washed” or concealed because it is designed to serve as a national repository of vehicle brand information. Fully implemented, NMVTIS will have data from every state and will be queried before any state issues a vehicle a new title, making it extremely difficult (if not impossible) to wash a “flood” designation from a vehicle.- South Florida law enforcement involved in “Operation Roadrunner” recovered approximately 250 cloned, stolen vehicles across the U.S. and expressed their belief that had NMVTIS been fully implemented, much of this criminal activity would have been prevented. In this multistate investigation, it was discovered that a criminal enterprise based in South Florida was stealing vehicles and replacing the VINs on the stolen vehicles with VINs removed from other vehicles of the same make, model, and year. These “cloned” vehicles were then used for criminal purposes or sold to unsuspecting consumers. Because the stolen cars and their fraudulent title paperwork displayed legitimate VINs taken from other automobiles (i.e., they were “clones”), consumers, state’s motor vehicle titling agencies, and law enforcement could not detect the vehicles’ true stolen status. The criminal enterprise that was taken down in this investigation was linked to many other types of criminal activity, including major violent crimes. Read more about cloning at www.nicb.org/cps/rde/xbcr/nicb/13734_VehicleCloning_Eng.pdf.
- In one western state, DMV clerks checking NMVTIS prior to issuing a new title have identified vehicles suspected of being stolen and vehicles with potentially fraudulent documentation and have been able to notify law enforcement instantly, before a new title was issued and while the suspects were still in the DMV offices. This has prevented crimes from occurring (e.g., fraud) as well as assisted law enforcement in investigating other crimes (e.g., theft).
NMVTIS was created to:
- Prevent the introduction or reintroduction of stolen motor vehicles into interstate commerce;
- Protect states and consumers (individual and commercial) from fraud;
- Reduce the use of stolen vehicles for illicit purposes including funding of criminal enterprises; and
- Provide consumers protection from unsafe vehicles.
In addition, the system provides law enforcement with an important tool to reduce auto theft and vehicle-related crimes.
Where implemented, NMVTIS has already produced results, including time and cost savings for state motor vehicle titling agencies, reductions in consumer wait time, decreases in motor vehicle thefts, improved recovery rate of stolen vehicles, increased ability to identify cloned vehicles prior to title issuance, and improved investigative abilities. Results produced to date include:
- South Dakota and New Hampshire saving time and money by no longer requiring the clerk to manually update a state record with returned title information since such updates are automatically included in NMVTIS.
- Arizona realizing a reduction in customer wait time and the ability to identify problems upfront due to online, accurate data.
- Virginia seeing a 17 percent decrease in motor vehicle thefts.
- Arizona experiencing a 99 percent recovery rate on vehicles identified as stolen.
- Arizona, Florida, and Virginia identifying cloned vehicles by working together, prior to issuing new titles.
- Florida cracking a car theft ring responsible for cloning more than 250 cars valued at $8 million.
- All participating states recapturing brands lost by non-participating states.
- Indiana experiencing a reduction in lawsuits by consumers who were given clear titles with missing brands.
- New Hampshire’s Motor Vehicle Supervisor stating that the amount of funds spent to implement NMVTIS “represents a small fee considering the savings on insurance fraud, cloning vehicles, stolen vehicles, odometer fraud, and preventing washed brands for consumer protection–all thanks to NMVTIS!”
(Source: American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators) NMVTIS: Consumers’ Benefits
The law requires NMVTIS information to be made available to prospective purchasers, including businesses that purchase used automobiles or commercial consumers. Commercial consumers include lenders who are financing the purchase of automobiles (and in many cases actually own them as the lien holders) and automobile dealers. Lenders and dealers are integral components of the automobile purchasing and titling process, and their ability to avoid fraud also protects individual consumers.Prior to purchasing a vehicle, consumers can search NMVTIS to discover:
- Information from a vehicle’s current title, including the vehicle’s brand history. “Brands” are descriptive labels regarding the status of a motor vehicle, such as “junk,” “salvage,” and “flood” vehicles;
- The latest reported odometer readings;
- Any determination that the vehicle is “salvage” by an insurance company or a self-insuring organization (including those vehicles determined to be a “total loss”); and
- Any reports of the vehicle being transferred or sold to an auto recycler, junk yard, or salvage yard.
Through NMVTIS, once a vehicle is branded by a state motor vehicle titling agency, that brand becomes a permanent part of the vehicle’s NMVTIS record. Vehicles that incur significant damage are often branded “junk” or “salvage.” Currently, motor vehicles with brands on their titles can without much difficulty have their brands “washed” (i.e., removed) from the titles. Brand washing can occur if the motor vehicle is retitled in another state that does not check with the originating state or does not check with all states that previously issued a title on that vehicle to determine whether the vehicle has any existing brands that may not be shown on the current paper title. Fraud can occur when these vehicles are presented for sale to unsuspecting consumers without disclosure of their true condition, including brand history. These consumers may pay more than the vehicle’s fair market value, and may purchase an unsafe vehicle.
Experian Automotive recently reported that in just the first six months of 2008 there were more than 185,000 titles that were initially branded in one state, and then transferred and re-titled in a second state in a way that resulted in issuance of a purportedly clean title. NMVTIS is effective in greatly reducing (if not eliminating) this type of fraud, preventing a significant number of crimes, and potentially saving the lives of consumers who might otherwise and unknowingly purchase unsafe vehicles.
Understanding State Differences
NMVTIS is designed to collect information from states, but not to change the nomenclature used in, or standards created by, state motor vehicle laws or by state motor vehicle titling agencies. Each state has its own laws, standards, and terminology that are unaffected by NMVTIS. For example, one state may examine and brand a damaged vehicle as “salvage,” while another state may not because the damage may not reach a certain dollar or value threshold (e.g., damage estimate in relation to fair market value) required by that state’s laws. In another example, a vehicle recovered from a flood or other natural disaster involving water (e.g., hurricane) may be flagged or branded as “flood” in certain states, but in other states no such designation exists. Because one state may brand or flag a vehicle as a flood vehicle does not mean that other states must also designate the vehicle as “flood.” NMVTIS is valuable because it retains and makes available to users of the system all reported brands applied to a vehicle so that reloocating the vehicle from one state to another will not “wash” the brand, because NMVTIS retains this information and makes it available to any state.Consumers should also be aware that differences in state procedures and reporting are important to understand. For example, some states exempt vehicles of a certain age from titling, and other states may collect and report varying levels of descriptive information on vehicles (e.g., make, model, color), while several states may report on all motor vehicles including motorcycles and heavy equipment, despite the requirement to report NMVTIS on common automobiles only. The Department of Justice recommends that consumers educate themselves on these types of issues before relying on any vehicle history report information, from this or any other service provider.
Understanding NMVTIS Search Results
While nearly 75 percent of the U.S. vehicle population is currently in NMVTIS and more than half of the states report data to the system, the remaining states are not required to begin reporting until January 1, 2010. Similarly, insurance carriers and junk and salvage yards are not required to begin reporting until March 31, 2009. Until all entities are reporting into NMVTIS as required, consumers should be aware of the possibility that a search may yield a false negative indication, such as “no junk or salvage history.” These same gaps can exist in other, private vehicle history databases and consumers should educate themselves on these issues as well.In addition, NMVTIS data comes from multiple sources. These sources are independent and are not required to follow or prescribe to a uniform approach for defining vehicle conditions and titling. For example, because a vehicle has been in the possession of a junk or salvage yard, does not mean that a state must brand the vehicle as junk or salvage. State laws vary in this regard and may not require application of such a brand, despite the fact that the vehicle was treated as salvage at some point. The bottom line is that the standards governing these matters vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
Similarly, an insurance determination of “total loss” does not necessarily mean that a vehicle was destroyed or is worthless. In some cases, such as stolen vehicles that are not recovered within a 30-day period, insurance companies may label these vehicles as “total loss.” If the vehicle is later recovered in perfect condition, the “total loss” determination is not removed and the the insurance company or an auction company or pool may attempt to sell the vehicle in perfectly good working order.
Consumers should be aware that the information in NMVTIS is not all of the information that a state may include in its vehicle title records. Consumers are encouraged to consider accessing the actual state title record to ensure that all relevant information is considered before making a vehicle purchase decision.
Where to Access the State’s Full Vehicle Title Record
Each NMVTIS consumer access vehicle history report will include a link to access the current state’s full vehicle title record. Click HERE to find out how to access state vehicle title records.For more information regarding the types of crime addressed by NMVTIS, please visit:
National Insurance Crime Bureau: Fact Sheet on Vehicle Cloning
National Insurance Crime Bureau: Brochure on Vehicle Theft
Federal Bureau of Investigation: Information on Car Cloning
Insurance Information Institute: Information on Auto Theft
Understanding NMVTIS Search Results
While nearly 75 percent of the U.S. vehicle population is currently in NMVTIS and more than half of the states report data to the system, the remaining states are not required to begin reporting until January 1, 2010. Similarly, insurance carriers and junk and salvage yards are not required to begin reporting until March 31, 2009. Until all entities are reporting into NMVTIS as required, consumers should be aware of the possibility that a search may yield a false negative indication, such as “no junk or salvage history.” These same gaps can exist in other, private vehicle history databases and consumers should educate themselves on these issues as well.
Where to Access the State’s Full Vehicle Title Record
Each NMVTIS consumer access vehicle history report will include a link to access the current state’s full vehicle title record. Click HERE to find out how to access state vehicle title records.
U.S. Department of Justice | Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Assistance
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