Of the different types of fraud prevalent throughout the United States, one you may not be aware of is when a person fraudulently changes your address in order to have your mail sent to him. An individual's mail contains all sorts of personal information in the form of billing statements, credit cards, blank checks and private correspondence. If you notice that your mail is no longer arriving at your mailing address, someone may have fraudulently changed your address, and you should take the appropriate action immediately.
Fill out a "False Change of Address" form on the United States Postal Inspection Service website (see Resources) and submit it electronically.
Contact your local postmaster to tell her of the fraudulent change of address and inform her that you have submitted a "False Change of Address" form.
Ask the postmaster if she has any information about the location where your mail may have been forwarded. If she is able to confirm that she does know this location, ask how you can change the fraudulent address back to the original mailing address.
Contact your local police department to find out if you can file a report, and do so if possible. This will likely depend on how much information you have regarding the details of the fraud.
Contact the three main credit reporting agencies: TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. Inform them that you have been the victim of a fraudulent change of address. Find out what you need to do for damage control purposes.
Tips
- Obtain a copy of your credit report from all three credit reporting agencies so you can see if there have been any fraudulent credit card accounts opened in your name. If you find anything amiss, you need to notify all three credit reporting agencies.
Tips
- Obtain a copy of your credit report from all three credit reporting agencies so you can see if there have been any fraudulent credit card accounts opened in your name. If you find anything amiss, you need to notify all three credit reporting agencies.
Writer Bio
Based in Texas, Cynthia Measom has been writing various parenting, business and finance and education articles since 2011. Her articles have appeared on websites such as The Bump and Motley Fool. Measom received a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Texas at Austin.