Identity Theft Protection

Archive for August, 2010

It can be difficult and can take a long time for a victim of identity theft to realize that they have become a victim. The longer the theft goes unnoticed, the longer the thief is able to continue fraudulently using your information. However, when you have the right tools, you can keep track of your financial activity and be better able to tell if someone is attempting to utilize your information for fraud. One of the best tools your in your arsenal?

Your credit report. Some people are not sure how to read their credit report in the first place, but this list of tips should give you a good place to start.

Address and Employment

Not everyone is going to be able to spell your street address properly, so don’t get too panicked if you notice a small typo on there. However, if your address has recently been changed, or your place of employment has been changed – and you haven’t moved or changed jobs – then you’ll need to look into the situation.

Inquiries

An inquiry into your credit report is someone – either yourself or a financial institution – asking for your credit information. Car dealers will do this when setting up financing, credit card companies will do the same when you’ve applied for a new card, and your employer may check on your credit from time to time. If you notice anyone making an inquiry that you haven’t before or that seems out of place, don’t hesitate to investigate it.

Inactive and Active Accounts

Inactive accounts will be listed on your credit report. These should, of course, be inactive. But if you notice recent activity, there might be something fishy going on. Be sure to double check the list of your active accounts as well. If you find any accounts on there that you did not know you had, you’ll want to notify someone immediately.

Public Records & Information

There will also be a list of your public records. These records include things like foreclosures, evictions, liens, repossessions, et cetera. And there is also the list of information, which includes past-due bills and other items sent to collections. Anything out of the ordinary here should immediately be reported.

What to do when you find something out of place on your credit report? Notify the company immediately that something is wrong and that your identity may have been stolen. You’ll also want to alert the credit bureau with the information on file, and begin methodically going through and placing a fraud alert on your credit reports. Then close the accounts that have been thieved and contact the police.

Identity theft can happen to anyone at any time. We cannot stop it but we can do everything in our power to prevent it from happening and to keep our information secure. Monitoring your credit file is just one method available to you as a method of identity theft protection.

To learn about many of the other methods we recommend you visit here and watch the video.