With more than 15 million people in the United States becoming victims of identity theft annually, it is critical to take measures that would protect your credit. When you consider that your credit report is what determines your creditworthiness for getting loans and/or credit cards, being able to buy insurance or having affordable premiums, being hired by many companies, renting a home or apartment, and more, it is clear that you need to do everything possible to protect it. Unfortunately, most people whose identity was stolen realized the importance of this after the fact.
The first step to keep your credit safe is to know the signs of identity theft. If your bills suddenly stop coming to the house or you receive some type of notice from the post office of an address change for one of your bills, you need to investigate why. In addition, if actual credit cards start coming to the house that you never applied for, beware. Now, people get credit card offers or application offers all the time but in this case, it would be an actual card ready to activate and use. Of course, if collection agencies begin calling wanting to talk about an account you never opened, you know you are in serious trouble.
f any of the above happened, immediate action would be needed. However, before things getting to the point of actually becoming a victim of identity theft, consider some of the ways mentioned below that you can do so identity theft does not damage your credit and turn your life upside down. • Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you are entitled to a free credit report from TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian every 12 months or a 3-in-1 report from one of the agencies that would provide information in report form for all three. With this, any errors, omissions, or suspicious activity could be identified and the proper steps taken.
• Make sure all your bank, credit card, computer, and phone accounts are password protected. Additionally, when choosing passwords never use what criminals expect. In other words, avoid maiden names, pet’s names, children’s names, digits of your social security number, phone number, birthdates, etc. Instead, choose a password that is a combination of letters and numbers, and something unique that only you would know. Once the passwords have been set, never tell anyone.
• Review the way you keep personal and financial information secure within the home. Although most identity thieves do not get involved with home invasion, your information could be stolen in other ways. For instance, if you have roommates or roommates with friends that come in and out of the house, someone who comes into the home to clean or babysit, or even a handyman working on projects around the home, you could possibly be exposing key information that would make you a victim.
• You even have the right and responsibility to ask your employer about protection for your information. Although your boss may not be able to go into detail, you should be provided with reassurance that your information is safe so identity theft that could damage your credit report is avoided.
• If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be from your bank, credit union, credit card company, loan company, mortgage company, etc, never give out information – period unless they were returning a phone call you initiated. The same is true for received emails, unless you sent out a request any unsolicited emails should be avoided like the plague. In fact, you should take this one-step further by reporting it to the actual company of which the criminal is pretending to be associated.
• Never throw out mail, even if it seems like something innocent. One of the primary ways that thieves get information is by sifting through people’s trash. Therefore, always shred old mail before putting in the trash. Remember, an envelope that has the name of a creditor and your name is often the only thing a criminal would need to steal your identity and ruin your credit report.
• Invest in a small home safe where you should keep credit cards not used often, loan papers, car titles, social security card, etc.
• Finally, make sure your computer has the latest and most innovative security software installed, especially if you spend a good deal of time online for any reason.
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