The three credit agencies constitute TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax, and each has the mandate of gathering information on people and how they use their credit. Further, the agencies are responsible for collecting information on whether any business has turned a person’s debt over to collection agencies or whether an individual filed for bankruptcy. With the involvement in people’s credit activity, it becomes significant that people report instances of identity theft to agencies since identity theft often results in credit abuse (Johansen, 2018). In their mandate, it becomes the responsibility of the credit agencies to prevent identity theft from happening. However, if identity theft occurs, credit agencies have to ensure credit abuse is reduced.
One of the challenges identity theft victims faces in the reporting process is slowing down the credit recovery process once the theft has been reported. Credit reporting bureaus and creditors often decline to consumer efforts resulting in credit disputes. Reporters of identity theft are often victims of unclean credit reports when dealing with credit agencies, making it challenging or time-consuming to recover their credit (Johansen, 2018). The other challenge with the reporting process is that hackers may sell clients’ social security numbers to criminals and use sensitive information once their identity is stolen. With the falsified information on the loop, identity theft victims may be arrested for evading authorities. Another familiar challenge associated with identity theft and the reporting process is that victims are sadly victimized and are forced to face unpaid medical bills in their collection of debts (Johansen, 2018). Last but not least, the challenge with identity theft in the reporting process is that victims are made to encounter damaged credit reports since fraudsters run up charges on their accounts and leave them unpaid.
Reference
Johansen, A. G. (2018). How to report identity theft to the credit bureaus. Web.