SIGNATURE PRACTICE AREA
Identity Theft Credit Report Lawyer
Fraudulent accounts wrecking your credit? Our identity theft attorneys can help, wherever you live. The law puts the burden on the bureaus, banks, and collectors to fix it. We make sure they do — and pursue compensation for the harm done.
Home / Services / Identity Theft
Identity Theft Can Destroy Your Credit — The Law Can Help You Take It Back
Identity theft is one of the most savage crimes that can be committed today. It can destroy your credit, drain your life savings, and cost you loans, jobs, and housing. Worse, businesses often try to keep you on the hook for fraudulent transactions — no matter how obvious it is that a criminal, not you, is responsible. We help victims force the credit bureaus, banks, and debt collectors to clean up the damage, and we pursue compensation for the harm done.
What Is Identity Theft on a Credit Report?
Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal identifying information — your name, birthday, Social Security number — without authorization, typically for financial gain. In 2021, approximately 23.9 million people were victims of identity theft, and about 76% experienced misuse of at least one existing account, such as a credit card or bank account. In total, victims suffered roughly $16.4 billion in financial losses that year alone.
How Identity Theft Ends Up on Your Credit Report
Traditional methods include theft by people with easy access to your information — family members, roommates, co-workers — plus phone scams (“vishing”), lost wallets and phones, and even mail or trash picking. Technology has expanded the fraudster’s reach:
- Data breaches — unauthorized access to companies you trusted with your information
- Phishing and smishing — deceptive emails and text messages impersonating trusted organizations
- Fake websites — lookalike sites that trick you into entering credentials
- Skimming and contactless readers — manipulated card readers at stores, ATMs, and gas pumps
- Public wi-fi and USB charging (“juice jacking”) — intercepting data or installing malware in public places
Once obtained, your information can be used to open new accounts, make unauthorized purchases, file fraudulent tax returns, rent apartments, take cash advances, and even obtain employment or health care in your name. Anything you can do with your information, so can a criminal.
Signs of Identity Theft on Your Credit Report
- Bills or statements for accounts you never opened
- Credit card or loan denials for products you never applied for
- Being locked out of online access to your accounts
- Transactions you never authorized
- Expected mail that never arrives
- Debt collection calls for debts you don’t owe
- Your tax return is rejected
- Credit inquiries from institutions you never applied to
- Medical bills for treatment you never received
None of these alone proves identity theft — but any of them is worth investigating immediately.
How to Fix Identity Theft Accounts on Your Credit Report
1. Freeze your accounts and credit reports. Contact every financial institution where you hold accounts, and freeze your credit files to prevent new accounts from being opened.
2. Place fraud alerts with all three bureaus. TransUnion: 800-916-8800 · Experian: 1-888-397-3742 · Equifax: 800-525-6285. Once placed, you’re entitled to two free credit reports over the following year.
3. Request documentation of every fraudulent account or transaction. If a fraudulent debt has gone to collections, the debt collector must verify the debt on request.
4. File an FTC fraud report and a police report. Both help establish that a criminal — not you — was responsible. FTC: reportfraud.ftc.gov
5. Keep detailed records of every call and document. These records become pivotal evidence.
We've Fought These Battles Before
Companies find it easier to hold you liable than to admit a fraudster got through. That’s why KLF exists — to help people victimized by fraud regain their financial freedom. Representative matters where KLF represented fraud victims against credit reporting agencies and financial institutions:
- Johnson v. Bread Financial Payments Inc., No. 2:24-cv-3131 (S.D. Ohio 2024) — credit reporting and debt issues after a family member unlawfully opened a Comenity Bank credit card in our client’s name
- Jenkins v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., et al., No. 2:23-cv-3065 (E.D. Pa. 2023) — credit reporting and debt issues after a family member unlawfully opened Discover and Barclays cards in our client’s name
- Cook v. Trans Union, LLC, et al., No. 2:22-cv-829 (E.D. Pa. 2022) — credit reporting and debt issues after an unknown criminal opened a Citibank credit card in our client’s name
How We Fight Identity Theft Cases
1. We document the fraud. Police reports, FTC reports, account records — we build the paper trail that proves the accounts and transactions are not yours.
2. We dispute with the bureaus and furnishers. The FCRA requires credit bureaus and the companies reporting to them to genuinely investigate identity theft disputes and block fraudulent information.
3. When they fail, we sue. Bureaus that keep reporting fraudulent accounts and collectors that keep chasing fraudulent debts can be liable under the FCRA and FDCPA — for actual damages, statutory damages, punitive damages, and your attorney’s fees.
Where Fraudulent Accounts Tend to Surface
Identity theft rarely announces itself with a familiar name. The account someone opened in your name is usually held by a bank you have never dealt with, sold through a brand you have never used, or already sitting with a collection company by the time you see it. That is why an unfamiliar entry deserves investigation rather than dismissal, and why the first step is figuring out what kind of company reported it, since the dispute route is different for an issuing bank, a fintech brand and a debt buyer.
- Pathward — a sponsor bank whose name appears on files belonging to people who never contacted it.
- Chime — a consumer brand whose accounts are actually held and reported by partner banks.
- Credit One Bank — a name so close to another issuer’s that legitimate entries get mistaken for fraud and the reverse.
- Synchrony Bank — the issuer behind many store cards, reported under abbreviations rather than the store name.
- Midland Credit Management — a debt buyer that may be collecting on an account opened by someone else.
- Early Warning Services — a bank-screening agency whose file can carry a fraud flag you never saw.
File an identity theft report, send it to each bureau with a block request, and dispute directly with the company that furnished the account. A furnisher told in writing that an account is the product of identity theft cannot keep reporting it as yours simply because its own records say the application was approved. Keep every letter, because the pattern of what you sent and when is what establishes that the company had notice and kept reporting anyway.
When It Is Not Fraud, but a Merged File
Accounts you never opened do not always mean someone stole your identity. The same symptom — a stranger’s balances, addresses and inquiries appearing under your name — is also produced when a credit reporting agency merges two consumers’ records because their identifying information looked close enough to match. The distinction matters, because the two problems call for different remedies. Identity theft is addressed through fraud blocks, police reports and the statutory block procedure; a merged file is not fraud at all, and blocking will not separate the records. If the accounts trace to a real person who plausibly shares your name, your address or part of your Social Security number, read our guide to mixed credit files, which explains how the merge happens, which consumers it affects most often, and what courts and regulators have required agencies to do about it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Someone opened accounts in my name. Am I responsible for the debt?
No — you are not liable for debts a fraudster created in your name. But creditors and bureaus often keep the debt on your file anyway. Documented disputes, and litigation when they fail to act, are how the law forces a correction.
What if the identity thief was a family member?
It is still identity theft, and you still have rights. Some of our representative cases involved family members opening cards in a client's name. We understand these situations are painful and handle them with discretion.
The bureau "verified" a fraudulent account after my dispute. Now what?
A rubber-stamp verification of a fraudulent account may itself violate the FCRA. That failure is often what turns an identity theft problem into a strong legal claim.
What does it cost to hire you?
Nothing out of pocket. We handle these cases on contingency — our fees come from the credit bureaus, banks, and collectors when we win. If we don't win, you don't pay.
Should I sign up for credit monitoring?
It can help you catch fraud early — but read the fine print. Arbitration clauses buried in some subscriptions can waive your right to go to court and limit your recovery.
This practice area is part of our broader FCRA practice — see how the Fair Credit Reporting Act protects you and makes the violator pay your legal fees.
Credit Identity Theft Attorneys Serving Philadelphia and All of Pennsylvania
If someone opened accounts in your name and the fraud is now on your credit report, you need more than a police report — you need a credit identity theft lawyer who knows the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The Kim Law Firm represents identity theft victims nationwide from its office at 1515 Market Street in Philadelphia. As FCRA identity theft attorneys, we force the credit bureaus and the companies that furnished the fraudulent accounts to delete them — and when they refuse to follow the law, we sue them for damages on your behalf. You pay no fee unless we recover for you.
Admitted in Pennsylvania and New Jersey; available to appear pro hac vice in other federal courts.
Whether the theft surfaced as unfamiliar collection accounts, a mixed credit file, or a background check that lists debts you never incurred, our identity theft attorneys handle the credit-reporting side of identity theft from dispute through litigation.
What Clients Say
“He took my case on a contingency basis and sued many defendants that were reporting inaccurate data on my credit reports. All of the incorrect information has since been removed and I was compensated.”
Sean — Verified review
“The Kim Law Firm provided great services and I would 100% recommend them to anybody looking for an FCRA attorney. Richard Kim kept me informed every step of the way.”
Julia — Verified review
Case results depend on a variety of factors, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The information on this website may not reflect current legal developments and is provided without any knowledge as to the reader/user’s specific circumstances. The application and impact of laws varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Attorneys’ fees and compensation are provided from a successful resolution. The law firm’s office is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
✓ No cost to you unless we win
✓ 20+ years of experience representing individuals
✓ 4.7★ on Google · 5.0★ on Avvo
Get a No-Cost Evaluation of Your Case Today
You don’t pay unless we win. Find out in minutes whether you have a claim.
If a consumer reporting agency or a furnisher left an error in place after you disputed it, our page on the FCRA lawsuit sets out who can be sued, what the statute allows you to recover, and how long you have to file. Where the error is another person’s account on your file, see mixed credit report lawsuit. If you are still at the dispute stage, our page on the credit report dispute lawyer covers what happens before a claim.