Debt from an account you never opened runs on different law than ordinary debt — and the burden allocation flips hard against the collector once you invoke the right statutes in the right order.
Step one: the official record. File the FTC identity theft report at IdentityTheft.gov (and a police report where practical — some statutes key to it). This document is the master key for everything downstream.
Step two: the credit bureaus. With the report, the FCRA obligates bureaus to block the fraudulent tradelines within four business days under 15 U.S.C. §1681c-2 — not merely “investigate,” block — and to tell the furnishers, who may not then re-report or sell the account. Add a fraud alert (free, §1681c-1) or a full security freeze (also free by federal law).
Step three: the collectors. Send each collector the identity theft report with a written dispute. Under the FDCPA and California’s Rosenthal Act, continued collection efforts on a documented fraud account invite statutory damages — and under the FCRA’s furnisher duties (§1681s-2(b)), verifying a blocked, disputed fraud account as accurate is its own violation.
California’s extra layer — the one that bites. Civil Code §§1798.92–1798.97 gives identity theft victims an affirmative cause of action against a claimant that continues to pursue a debt after being presented with the facts: a victim who establishes the identity theft recovers actual damages, attorney’s fees, and a civil penalty of up to $30,000 where the claimant proceeded unreasonably after notice (§1798.93). You can even bring it preemptively, seeking a judicial declaration that you’re not obligated. Sued on a fraud account? The same sections supply the defense and a cross-complaint.
Step four: the creditor’s file. Under FCRA §1681g(e), businesses must give victims the application and transaction records of the fraudulent account within 30 days — the paperwork that shows the signature isn’t yours and the address never was.
The system’s default assumption is that disputed debt is dodged debt. The identity theft statutes exist to reverse that assumption — but only for victims who build the record instead of arguing on the phone.
Every letter, form, and deadline referenced above is packaged in the free kits at JusticePrompt.com. No credit card, no upsell — the documents and the law, ready to use.
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