You may not have a high-enough valued case to make it feasible for a lawyer to accept it on contingency, or the violations in your case may not allow for a private lawsuit; for example, if a creditor ignored your fraud alert and issued credit to an impostor, or refused to give you copies of the evidence of the fraud. You may feel victimized by the company that caused the problem, and frustrated by its uncaring attitude and lack of redress.

Thousands of victims share your dissatisfaction, which is why it’s so important to make the circumstances known publicly so that changes will take place to better protect consumers and help victims to recover more quickly and easily. An important tool in getting satisfaction can be exposing the bad behavior of careless companies in the media, or blogging about what happened to you. I have seen miraculous turnabouts in company cooperation after victims speak to the media or blog about what happened in a respectable, credible manner on websites like ConsumersUnion.com.

No one likes bad press—especially big public companies. I strongly suggest that you only tell the facts of your case. Truth is an absolute defense against a claim of defamation. Contact television stations, radio stations, and newspapers, and succinctly tell your story to an editor or consumer reporter, explaining that what happened to you can happen to anyone and it’s important to protect the public from the poor treatment of victims.

Contact IDTheftCenter.org, PrivacyRights.org, IdentityTheft.org, or ftc.gov/idtheft to share your story, and volunteer to speak to the media. These websites are often contacted by the media to see if victims are willing to tell their stories. Just be careful. If you have any skeletons in your closet, it’s best to lie low, since the media attention could be uncomfortable. If you are willing to write an article or letter to the editor of your local newspaper, your voice can be heard. Once the article is published, you may send it to the company, the company regulators, the Federal Trade Commission, and your legislators. The key is to be very professional, concise, and articulate.