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When the bank should be uncooperative after identity theft

Posted on Jul 31, 2006 by Tom Fragala

If you are an identity theft victim, there may be times—believe it or not—when your bank should be uncooperative when you are reporting fraud. They should never provide you with sensitive account information after you report fraud, until they have confirmed you are the actual victim. Otherwise, they could be providing sensitive information to the imposter (not you). That is why you will (should) be asked to provide an FTC fraud affidavit and police report to the bank fraud investigator or security officer. They should verify this information and from that point forward assume you are the actual account holder. And they should tell you to place a PIN or password on your accounts. That goes for credit cards, savings accounts, and checking accounts. If they don’t mention the PIN/password, then you should demand it.

A well run bank should have clearly defined internal procedures and processes for dealing with consumer fraud.