How To Undo Damage Caused By Online Scams

Well, it happened. You fell for an online scam. Maybe you clicked a link in an email, got catfished by an identity theft pro, or called a phone number on a fake corporate web page. Now, unauthorized transactions and fraud are all over your credit reports and financial statements, and debt collectors are calling on repeat.

When this happens, feeling foolish is common, but being fooled by someone who makes scamming people a full-time job doesn’t make you a fool. You were targeted by a criminal whose entire scheme is ultimate deception. In fact, falling for a scam of some kind is almost inevitable these days.

At Mistake, we help you get back to feeling proactive and smart (because you are!) by helping you undo the damage that frequently comes next. 

Immediate Steps To Stop Identity Theft in Its Tracks

There are urgent steps you should take in the immediate aftermath of falling for an online scam, including:

1. Scanning your computer for malware or having a professional sweep it for threats
2. Changing your passwords for all banking, financial, benefit, and credit accounts
3. Notifying banks, card holders, lenders, and credit bureaus
4. Filing police reports with the local police and the Federal Trade Commission
5. Keeping all notes, documents, and supporting evidence (you’ll need it later!)

Next Steps - When An Online Scam Becomes a Series of Mistakes that Just Won’t Quit

Once you’ve plugged the immediate leaks and stopped your identity theft problem from growing, you have to be aware of how online scams and identity theft can haunt your credit and finances going forward.

Just because you reported fraudulent and unauthorized transactions doesn’t mean the banks, store accounts, credit cards, insurance companies, and lenders actually remove the fraudulent charges and unjust debts from your statements and credit reports. 

Here's what you'll need to do next:

1. Monitor your statements and credit reports regularly. Identify any errors, inaccuracies, misrepresentations, and false data about accounts, payments, lines of credit, loans, transactions, etc.
2. Dispute each of the fraudulent charges and transactions, unauthorized accounts, and more.
3. Fight debt collectors coming for payments that you don’t actually owe. 
4. Follow-up consistently because correcting their mistakes is not what credit bureaus, credit card companies, banks, and debt collectors are known for.

When you work with Mistake, we take care of the entire dispute process for you, keep debt collectors off your back, and get you the fixes (and compensation) you deserve!

The Laws that Help You Recover from Identity Theft

There are several key federal laws that protect your right to remove inaccurate, false, and misleading information from your credit reports, help you challenge fraudulent transactions, and help you fight unlawful debt collection attempts.

The federal laws that may be implicated in identity theft recovery include:

• the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
• the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA)
• the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA)
• the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)

You have strong legal protections on your side. But understanding what those protections are and knowing how to enforce them can feel like finding your way through a consumer law maze.

We Make Identity Theft Recovery Easy

The mistakes caused by online scams and identity theft show up in your bank statements and credit reports in the weeks, months, and years that follow. In fact, in the aftermath of identity theft, it is very common for your credit report to be filled with fraudulent accounts, missed payments, and debts that aren't yours. 

Navigating these mistakes on your own is frustrating. Trying to get a host of disjointed financial and credit companies to do the right thing and clear mistakes from your record is exhausting. Especially when they don't particularly care if one person, floating in a sea of bad data, is desperately looking for a lifeline from some of the biggest, most unbothered consumer data companies in the world. 

If you fell for an online scam, spotted unauthorized activity in your accounts, or found credit report errors you want to fix, we can help.

At Mistake, we make your identity theft recovery easy, by fixing reporting mistakes in three simple steps: review, resolve, restore. We handle the entire process for you. We make these companies undo their mistakes, and fight to get you compensation. Oh, and they pick up the tab.