Two people I know found the same thing on their reports the same spring: a department-store card, opened in a city they'd never lived in, with a balance. One was a mixed file — a woman with the same name whose account had been stitched onto the wrong person. The other was a thief with a stolen Social. Same line on the page. Completely different next month.
Why the distinction matters
A mixed file is disputed under the reinvestigation rules: thirty days, "verified" or "deleted," the whole apparatus from March. Identity theft has its own section of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and it's faster. With an identity theft report and proof of identity, a bureau must block the fraudulent information within four business days of receipt, and notify the furnisher that the item resulted from identity theft. Four days. Not thirty.
You also get something a mixed-file victim doesn't: the right to the thief's paperwork. A business that opened an account in your name has to give you, on request with an identity theft report, the application and the transaction records. That's how you find out the city, the address used, sometimes the name.
Which one you have
If the stranger's account carries your Social Security number and your birth date, someone used your identity. If it carries a different Social, a different birth date, a different middle name — and you see it on the collector's letter or the bureau's detail — it's a mixed file, and it's the bureau's error, not a crime against you.
When you can't tell, treat it as identity theft first, because the identity theft path also forces the disclosure that settles the question.
The form
Go to IdentityTheft.gov, the FTC's site, and complete the report. It produces an affidavit and a recovery plan. Then, to each bureau where the item appears: a letter requesting a block under Section 1681c-2, with the report and a copy of your identification attached, certified with return receipt (July's first article). Freeze all the files at the same time — April's article, because whoever has the number will try again.
A police report is optional for the FTC affidavit but some furnishers ask for one; it takes an afternoon and closes an argument.
Next: when to stop writing letters and call a lawyer.
Sources
- Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681c-2 — block of information resulting from identity theft — Four business days to block, on receipt of an identity theft report
- Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681g(e) — a victim's right to the thief's transaction records
- FTC — IdentityTheft.gov — Where the identity theft report is generated
- CFPB — Your rights to request, dispute and freeze
Every statutory citation in this article was checked against the source listed before publication. Nothing here is legal advice; if your situation has legal consequences, talk to a licensed attorney in your state.