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ContinueLearn how we can help you if you are a victim of fraud or read tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of fraud.
Learn MoreWelcome to TransUnion's Fraud Victim Assistance Department (FVAD). Learn how we can help you if you are a victim of fraud or read tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of fraud.
Preventing
If you think you may become a victim of fraud but there has been no reported misuse of your credit or no confirmed misuse of your personal information, you can place a Potential Fraud Alert on your credit file. If, for example, you've lost a purse or wallet, placing a Potential Fraud Alert will tell potential lenders that you may be a victim of fraud and provide them with your contact phone number.
Please note that TransUnion may charge a non-refundable fee of $5.00 plus applicable taxes to place a Potential Fraud Alert on a consumer credit file. An alert can also be placed on your Social Insurance Number (SIN) for an additional fee of $1.00 plus applicable taxes.
There are three ways you can add a Potential Fraud Alert to your credit file:
Here are some simple ways you can help reduce your chances of becoming a fraud victim:
Restoring
Once you realize that you are a fraud victim, you need to contact various government, credit/financial institutions, and credit agencies. To make the process as manageable as possible, we have prepared the following procedures to help you resolve any problems with your creditors, amend fraud information on your credit report, and help prevent any further fraud.
1. Obtain and review a copy of your credit report.
Review your TransUnion Credit Profile for any unauthorized activity. If you find any information not pertaining to you on your credit file, contact the creditors and question the account and/or inquiry. If you have questions, contact TransUnion.
2. Protect your credit report.
Add a fraud alert to your credit file if you have been notified by a creditor's fraud department, Government agency or law enforcement regarding fraud to warn potential credit grantors that you may be a victim of identity theft. You may also add a statement to your file if you had your wallet lost/stolen or had a home break-in. This statement alerts the creditors who obtain your credit file of the fraud and, if applicable, to contact you before approving credit applications. This statement is retained on your credit file for six years from the date it was added, or until you request its deletion in writing.
The addition of a fraud alert to your credit file may assist you in reducing the likelihood of future fraudulent applications resulting in the extension of credit in your name. However, it is important to recognize that, subject to applicable law, credit grantors have the discretion to decide what steps they will take (if any) when they see the fraud alert on your credit file.
3. Report the fraud.
Contact government agencies such as Service Canada if someone has used your Social Insurance Number to apply for government services. It is recommended that you also contact your local law enforcement agency to file a report regarding the fraudulent activity. For confirmed cases only, contact The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (Phonebusters) to report the incident.
4. Contact your credit financial institutions.
Contact companies that you have relationships with and inform them that your accounts with those companies may be compromised.
Contact the companies on your credit report that you do not recognize. Verify with the company the information they have in their records for the reported item.
Provide the creditor with a copy of your police report; you may need an Affidavit or relevant documentation.
Keep a log of all related phone conversations, including names of people with whom you spoke.
5. Stop cheques and report your Social Insurance Number.
Notify your bank to stop cheques. You can also report stolen cheques to your financial institution and file a complaint with Service Canada.
6. Follow up.
Follow up with companies and agencies that you have contacted to ensure that their investigation resulted in your favour. The FVAD helps you to the fullest extent possible, but remember that you have certain responsibilities. By working with credit grantors directly to identify all fraudulent accounts, you can greatly reduce this crime's effect on you.
7. Regularly review your credit.
Monitor your TransUnion Credit Report regularly for unauthorized activity by using our Credit Monitoring solution. If you find any information not pertaining to you, contact the creditor and question the account and/or inquiry.
Contacts
Print this list of phone numbers to use and keep for reference during your fraud resolution process.
Correspondence in English:
TransUnion
Fraud Victim Assistance Department
3115 Harvester Road,
Suite 201 Burlington ON L7N 3N8
800-663-9980
Correspondence in French:
TransUnion
Consumer Relations Centre
3115 Chemin Harvester,
Suite 201 Burlington ON L7N 3N8
877-713-3393
Equifax Credit Information Services
Consumer Fraud Division
P.O. Box 190 Jean Talon
Montreal, PQ
H1S 2Z2
800-465-7166
514-493-2314
Supportive Agencies
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
(PhoneBusters)
P.O. Box 686
North Bay, Ontario
P1B 8J8
888-495-8501
About the Fraud Victim Assistance Department (FVAD)
TransUnion's FVAD is the credit industry's first and most comprehensive department dedicated to helping credit fraud victims. It is a centralized TransUnion department dedicated solely to the detection, prevention and rectification of credit fraud. We assist and support all victims of fraudulent activity and put effective pre-emptive and remedial programs into place. Based in Burlington, Ontario, the FVAD works with consumers, credit grantors, law enforcement officials and other credit reporting agencies to help investigate and prevent credit fraud.
When credit fraud occurs, you and your credit grantors are both victims. Until the fraud is discovered, the fraudulently opened accounts can appear on your credit file. FVAD can help you identify the fraudulent accounts and/or inquiries, advises you of the creditors that need to be informed of the fraud, and works with the creditors to appropriately amend the information reported to your file.
Here are the steps FVAD takes to help prevent further fraud and correct the inaccuracies on your credit file resulting from the fraud:
1. After an FVAD representative verifies your identity, the representative advises you of any recent inquiries and/or accounts that are new to your file. If you are unaware of the inquiry and/or account, the representative provides the phone number for each. Moreover, the representative reminds you to notify the respective creditor of any fraudulent inquiry and/or account.
2. FVAD will add a fraud statement to your credit file, alerting the creditors who obtain your credit file of the fraud and, if applicable, to contact you before approving credit applications. This statement is retained on your credit file for six years from the date it was added, or until you request its deletion in writing.
The addition of a fraud alert to your credit file may assist you in reducing the likelihood of future fraudulent applications resulting in the extension of credit in your name. However, it is important to recognize that, subject to applicable law, credit grantors have the discretion to decide what steps they will take (if any) when they see the fraud alert on your credit file.
For confirmed Fraud Cases only, FVAD will request your consent to send your name, address and phone number to The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (PhoneBusters).
3. Notify joint-victim credit grantors.
Based on our conversation with you, FVAD notifies credit grantors of the suspected fraud inquiry and/or account. Specifically, FVAD advises the credit grantors to check for a recent application or opened account with the victim's identifying information. By approaching the fraud from both the consumer's and credit grantor's perspectives, a significant amount of fraud can be detected and resolved earlier.
4. Mail statement authorization form.
FVAD representative informs you that an authorization form will be mailed out in order to obtain written consent and to record your contact information.
5. Keep a database of fraud information.
With your consent, FVAD will add misused information into our High Risk Fraud Alert database. Should this information be used on future fraudulent applications, an alert is generated advising potential credit grantors to do further due diligence prior to extending credit.
6. Restore your credit file to its accurate state.
FVAD investigates any disputed credit information with the creditors to help restore any fraud information on your credit file to its accurate state.
7. Refer you to other credit bureaus.
An FVAD representative advises you to contact other credit bureaus in Canada in order to notify them about the fraud incident and add further protection for yourself.
8. Notification of Investigation Outcome/Mail credit file to the consumer, if appropriate.
An FVAD representative will notify you by mail of the Investigation outcome. If you also want a current copy of your TransUnion credit report, proof of identity and/or residency may be required to safeguard your file from further fraudulent activity. The request must be signed in writing and accompanied by two pieces of acceptable identification. Following is the list of acceptable identification:
Acceptable primary identification
We require one piece of valid, non-expired Canadian Government-issued identification. Examples include:
Additional pieces of acceptable identification
Examples include:
Together these combined pieces must contain your name, current address, date of birth and signature.