| Good credit and Bad credit protection
against identity theft.
Can Consumers Fight Back Against Credit Fraud?
In this age of information, credit fraud is not a
difficult crime to perpetrate. The idea that a thief
could gain access to your account information or
personal data is not as implausible as you might
think - social security number misuse has increased
over the last two years, resulting in a variety of
credit-related crimes.
Fortunately, you can fight back against credit
fraud by learning how credit fraud and identity
theft occur, and by actively monitoring your credit
report for unauthorized account use on a regular
basis. Your credit report will list any new activity
on accounts you haven’t been using, as well as new
accounts that you did not open.
One of the best ways to keep track of new
information that is added to your credit report is
the Consumer Info Monitoring Service, which provides
Online Monthly Monitoring Alerts to inform you of
new derogatory information, recent inquiries into
your credit, and several indicators of possible
credit fraud. If you would like to sign up for the
Consumer Info Monitoring Service,
click here . You’ll get a free copy of
your credit report when you sign up for a free
30-day trial.
To have credit report information at your
fingertips is the best way to shut an identity thief
down - you can begin the process of notifying your
creditors of the fraud, changing your passwords, and
closing down fraudulent accounts before they wind up
in the hands of collectors and compromise your good
credit.
How Credit Fraud and Identity Theft Occur
Specific personal data, such as your Social
Security number, home address and mother’s maiden
name, can be all a thief needs to obtain a
fraudulent driver’s license, take over existing bank
or credit accounts, divert card statements to a
different address, or even apply for new credit card
accounts under your name. Thieves can obtain this
information in variety of ways, including fishing
through trash for account statements, lifting cards
from lost or stolen purses, wallets and briefcases,
or through telephone or Internet scams.
How to Prevent Credit Fraud and Identity Theft
Customers may be in a position to prevent
potential identity theft by closely guarding their
personal data. For example, never give out your
Social Security number over the phone unless you
know the company you are dealing with and have
initiated the call.
Similarly, if your mother’s maiden name is not
likely to be a secure password, consider changing it
to something a little more difficult for a thief to
obtain. Also, carry only the cards you are actually
going to use, and leave official documents like
Social Security cards, passports and birth
certificates at home or in a safety deposit box.
Account Takeover Fraud
Credit card account statements contain a lot of
sensitive information that you don’t want thieves to
get a hold of, and even store receipts will
frequently have your credit card number printed on
them. Sometimes an account number is all a thief
needs to make charges and obtain cash advances. It’s
a good idea to shred all financial documents before
discarding them.
A thief in possession of sensitive information
about you may also be able to go one step further,
and commit account takeover fraud, simply by calling
your creditor, reading off your account number, a
partial Social Security number and your mother’s
maiden name, and asking them to change the mailing
address on the account. For this reason, if you
don’t receive a credit card statement on time, you
should call your creditor immediately to verify that
the address has not been changed.
Checking your credit report may also reveal
activity on an account you don’t use - get a
free credit report to see
your currently open accounts, and stay on top of the
situation with the Consumer Info Monitoring Service.
Pre-Approved Credit Offers
Another source of potential credit fraud is
pre-approved credit offers. A thief who intercepts
one may fill out the application and change the
address to obtain a credit card in your name for
which you will never receive a statement. (To combat
this, some creditors will not issue a card to a new
address on a pre-approved offer certificate, but
this policy isn’t universal.) This makes checking
your credit report especially important, because it
will show you if there are accounts being reported
in your name of which you are not aware.
The thief may even make the minimum payments for
a while, until such time as the card is maxed out.
Then the account would eventually be turned over for
collections - in your name, and listed on your
credit report. If you would like to sign up for the
Consumer Info Monitoring Service, Click Here and you’ll get a free copy of
your credit report when you sign up for a free
30-day trial.
¬ Click Here
and sign up for this invaluable
Monitoring Service, and get your FREE credit report
and 30 day Free trial Monitoring Service.
(c) 2000 ConsumerInfo.Com This article is the
copyright of ConsumerInfo.Com and is reprinted with
their permission. ConsumerInfo.com is a registered
trademark of ConsumerInfo.Com, Inc.
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