You spotted a charge you never made — or a whole account you never opened — and now it’s dragging down your credit report. If you’re in Florida and the bank or credit bureau is giving you the runaround, here’s what they don’t lead with: federal law puts the burden on them, not you. I’m Michael Ziegler; for 13 years my firm has used the Fair Credit Reporting Act to force banks and bureaus to clean up errors they’d rather ignore.
This page is about the credit-report side of card fraud — the inaccurate information sitting on your file — not criminal charges. Fixing the report is where your legal leverage is.
Fraudulent Charges vs. Identity Theft — Both Are FCRA Problems
Whether someone used your existing card or opened a brand-new account in your name, the result on your credit report is the same: information that isn’t accurate. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Fair Credit Billing Act give you the right to dispute it and require the credit bureaus and the bank (the “furnisher”) to investigate and correct or delete what they can’t verify. When they don’t, that’s not just frustrating — it’s a violation.
Your Rights Under the FCRA
- The right to dispute the fraudulent charge or account directly with the credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) and the bank reporting it.
- The right to a real investigation. Once you dispute, they generally have 30 days to investigate and respond — and a rubber-stamp “verified” is not a real investigation.
- The right to have unverifiable information removed. If the furnisher can’t prove the charge or account is yours, it has to come off.
- The right to recover. If a bureau or bank ignores a valid dispute or keeps reporting information it knows is wrong, the FCRA allows you to recover damages — and, in many cases, your attorney’s fees come from the other side.
What to Do First
- Pull your three credit reports (free at annualcreditreport.com) and mark every charge or account that isn’t yours.
- Dispute in writing with each bureau and the bank reporting it — keep copies and send it so you can prove delivery. A paper trail is what makes a later case.
- Don’t just call the bank and stop there. A phone call doesn’t create the written record the FCRA process runs on.
- Save everything — letters, dates, names, and every “we investigated and it’s verified” response. Those responses are often the evidence of the violation.
- Talk to an FCRA attorney before you give up after the first denial. The first “verified” is frequently where a valid claim actually begins.
When the Bureaus Won’t Fix It
This is the part that surprises people: you can do everything right and still get a form letter saying the fraudulent charge was “verified.” When a bureau or bank keeps reporting information it can’t substantiate after you’ve disputed it, the law is on your side — and that’s exactly the situation we take on. A recent Clearwater client disputed an account opened in her name three times and kept getting “verified” letters; once we got involved and put the burden back on the furnisher to actually prove the account, the picture changed quickly.
You can read more about your rights under the FCRA and how to correct wrong information on your credit report. If the fraud also came with abusive collection calls on a debt that isn’t yours, that’s a separate set of protections — see debt collection harassment.
Talk to a Florida FCRA Attorney
If fraudulent charges are on your report and the dispute process has stalled, you don’t have to absorb the damage. In FCRA cases the law often shifts the cost to the violator, so getting our eyes on it usually costs you nothing up front.
Start your free FCRA review below, or call (727) 538-4188 for a Free Debt Freedom Strategy Session. We’ll review what’s on your file and tell you straight whether you have an FCRA claim worth pursuing.
This article is general information, not legal advice. For Florida residents, contact Ziegler Diamond Law for a Free Debt Freedom Strategy Session.
