Step 1 – Place a fraud alert

Place a Fraud Alert on Your Credit Report.

If you have been a victim of identity theft or you worry about someone using your identity - you need to place an initial fraud alert on your credit report

You need to know:

• What is a fraud alert?
• How you can place a fraud alert.
• And that you are entitled to one free copy of your credit report.

A fraud alert allows you to take control of who issues you credit and when credit cards are issued in your name. The fraud alert tell any company that uses your credit report, such as a bank or insurance company; they must contact you before they can issue credit, arrange loans, open accounts, increase credit lines, or open new credit card accounts. If a company can’t contact you directly at a number you designate or if you do not approve the transaction, the transaction stops.

You can contact each of the bureaus individually, (they say they share the information but that is not a 100% guarantee)

TransUnion Fraud Victim Assistance Department Phone: 800-680-7289 Fax: 714-447-6034 P.O. Box 6790 Fullerton, CA 92634-6790 Equifax

Consumer Fraud Division Phone: 800-525-6285 or: 404-885-8000 Fax: 770-375-2821 P.O. Box 740241 Atlanta, GA 30374-0241 Experian

Experian’s National Consumer Assistance Phone: 888-397-3742 P.O. Box 2104 Allen, TX 75013 Or you can set your fraud alert Online. Learn more about Fraud alerts from Experian at their website.

An excellent resource for information about Identity Theft is a government website I want to quote a little from their site about fraud alerts. "An initial fraud alert stays on your credit report for 90 days. When you place this alert on your credit report with one nationwide consumer reporting company, you’ll get information about ordering one free credit report from each of the companies. It’s prudent to wait about a month after your information was stolen before you order your report. That’s because suspicious activity may not show up right away. Once you get your reports, review them for suspicious activity, like inquiries from companies you didn’t contact, accounts you didn’t open, and debts on your accounts that you can’t explain. Check that information - like your SSN, address (es), name or initials, and employers - are correct."

Notice two things the site tells us about fraud alerts;

1. Fraud alerts are only good for 90 days - that means you have to remind yourself to reset the fraud alert every 90 days. (That’s one of the reasons I pay LifeLock to reset my alerts every 90 days.)

2. Setting a fraud alert entitles you to a free credit report, without going to one of those online places that give you a free credit report so they can sell your personal information.

It is very important that you set a fraud alert with the credit reporting agencies to protect your identity. I am sharing with you what you can for free. I use a company called LifeLock (if you are interested in LifeLock just click on the word LifeLock and  you will be brought to their website.  LifeLock provides identity protection and is a great investment.

Related Articles

• Step 3 - Inspect Your Credit Report - The FTC has some excellent information about detecting identity theft. “Detect suspicious activity by routinely monitoring your financial accounts and billing statements. If you are unable to take these steps while you are deployed, consider placing an active duty alert on your credit report.’ “Inspect: Your credit report. Credit reports contain information about you, including what accounts
• Step 2 - Opt out of preapproved credit offers - Step 2 - Opt out of preapproved credit offers. An identity thief would love to snatch you preapproved credit offer and redirect your new credit card to his wallet. Don’t let that happen. You can opt out of preapproved credit card offers. An identity thief would love to snatch you preapproved credit offer
• Bank Holdup - Beware of Electronic Funds Transfer - “Bank Holdup”, is the title of a column in the July/August issue of AARP. Ron Burley has a column called ‘On your Side’, he goes to fight for the little guy against business trying to rip off AARP subscribers. Melodie Marks from Westminster, Ca wrote to Ron, “I bank online. Last month, instead of my regular