It’s painful the day you realize it has happened to you – someone has stolen your identity and done terrible things to your credit score. It’s painful, and getting through this can take years.

The discovery can come about in a variety of ways. Many people don’t realize their identity has been stolen until suddenly they cannot get the credit they just applied for. Upon checking their credit report, they discover accounts they never authorized listed under their names.

Another possibility is that you will simply have had a credit card stolen, and so receive a phone call from your current credit card company noting unusual use on your account. You may have even received one of these calls legitimately, when you have done unusual spending with your card. But these calls can be a wonderful alert that something has gone wrong and someone is abusing your credit.

How you will react depends on the situation. If it’s a stolen credit card or credit card number, you can cancel the credit card and get a new one. You are often well advised to place an alert on your account, which requires some effort on your part, but is one way to know if there are more problems.

In most cases of identity theft you will want to put a watch on your credit through the credit bureaus. You can file a report with all three credit bureaus that will flag your account. This means that you will be called before any new credit in your name can be approved. Inconvenient if you want new credit, but a wonderful way to know that only legitimate accounts can be opened. This initial alert will last for 3 months.

But you may want more. You can request an extension of the fraud alert to seven years, and you can get a free copy of your credit report from all three bureaus. It’s a good idea to do this annually, even when you do not expect there to be problems. Identity theft is a nearly silent crime, and catching it can be difficult. The earlier you do it, the less work you will have in fixing it.

Go over your credit reports. Inform the credit bureaus of all fraudulent and inaccurate information. They are required to remove it as soon as they know that the information is incorrect.

All of this can be a tedious process, and you may come up with problems for years to come. You can think you got it all, then find out that there’s still a problem. This is why it is far better to be vigilant, and get your credit report annually, than to wait until there’s a problem. Paying basic attention to your credit report can make problems a little easier to solve, or at least cut back on the number of them.

Technorati Tags: credit score, id theft, credit report

Identity theft is a painful crime to suffer, especially because it can take so long to find out it happened. There can be very little evidence of a problem until you check your credit report or you get mysterious calls from unknown creditors.

Being careful with your personal information is very important in helping you to avoid identity theft. But it is not an absolute protection.

Unfortunately, one way identities can be stolen is through your job. An unscrupulous coworker with access to your personnel file can get enough information to get credit in your name. But of course that is not the only way this happens.

Sometimes theives will simply steal your mail and see what they can use. This makes it very important to get your mail inside as soon as possible daily and to make sure someone trusted is taking care of your mail when you go on vacation. It can even be temporarily stopped by the post office if necessary.

A tactic that is very popular online is phishing. This is where you get an email that claims to be from a bank or other online service you might use. They send you to a faked site where they ask for your personal information.

Fortunately, these are easy to avoid. When in doubt, type in the website address of your bank rather than clicking on the email link. This way you know where you are going.

There are other ways your identity can be stolen, but these are some of the more common ones for you to watch out for.

It always pays to check your credit card statement. It may be easy to just write the check or send that online payment, but that is far from the wisest course.

Consider this scam. A company called Pluto Data is appearing on people’s credit card statements. No one has heard of them, yet they have managed to add charges to a large number of credit cards. If you don’t check your statement, you’d never know they had charged you, as so far they don’t add enough to the bill for most to notice an unusually high balance.

Another common problem is identity theft. It’s all to easy for thieves to break into mailboxes and steal preapproved credit card offers, new credit cards or information about you that they could use to apply for credit cards in your name.

How do you fight back? One simple way is to tell the credit bureaus that you don’t want your name being given out for preapproved credit card offers. Read my article on opting out for more information. You’ll be amazed at how much less junk mail you will receive.

Also make sure that you get your free credit reports regularly from http://www.annualcreditreport.com/. You have the right to this information, so take advantage of it.

Protecting your identity is extremely important. You cannot afford to have a poor credit score because of things other people have done with your name. Keeping up with the charges on your bills and your credit report can save you a lot of trouble later on.

Technorati Tags: free credit report, credit card scams, preapproved credit card offers, credit bureaus

As I’ve said before in this blog, it’s very important to keep an eye on your credit. The simplest way is to get your free annual credit report from each of the credit bureaus. This will allow you to keep a general eye on how your credit report is doing. But what about when that is not enough? What if you have reason to be concerned?

It’s time to take stronger measures.

Let’s say you just received a notice that your credit information has possibly been obtained by someone. You can request a 90-day alert be put on your credit so that you must be called in order for any credit requests to be put through. This kind of fraud alert is helpful in protecting your credit for the 90 days it is in force, although it does limit your own ability to get quick credit during that period. But if you have reason to be concerned, it is a good place to start. Best of all, you only have to tell one bureau; it will notify the others.

Now, if you know for a fact that your identity has been stolen, and have proof (a police report is sufficient), you can have an alert put on your records for seven years. Same benefits and problems as the 90-day alert. If for any reason you want it removed early, you can cancel it, but you’ll have to prove your identity.

You can also place a freeze on your account if you live in California. Other states may soon have similar measures. This is a rather extreme measure, however, as it means your credit information cannot be reviewed by anyone. But if you are having serious problems with identity theft, it may be worth your while.

Finally, if you don’t feel that getting your free annual reports is sufficient protection, consider paying for a credit monitoring service. There are ones that will monitor all three bureaus for you. You will then be notified if there is a new account or inquiry to your account.

Technorati Tags: credit card fraud, fraud alerts, free annual reports, credit monitoring

You may not recognize it when the theft first occurs, but you suddenly start getting warnings that something is wrong with your credit. Maybe you were one of the smart ones who gets credit reports annually. Maybe you found out because creditors have started contacting you. Your identity has been stolen.

There are a number of steps you need to take once you realize your identity has been stolen. All of them are tedious, but it’s vital you get things back into order. And unfortunately it can take years to get your accounts back in order. The entire process is tedious and draining.

The first thing you need to do is get your credit report from all three agencies. You are entitled to this free in the instance of fraud. You can also request a fraud alert be placed on your account. This will make it harder for you to get credit, but will inhibit further fraud.

There are two types of fraud alerts. The initial fraud alert is valid for only 90 days, and is good if you suspect there is a problem, but aren’t certain. It’s good when your wallet is stolen or if you fall for a phishing scam.

An extended alert stays on your account for seven years. You have to provide the company with an identity theft report to get an extended alert placed on it. The extended alert also removes your name from the marketing lists for preapproved credit cards for five years.

You will need to keep track of all your efforts to clean up the problem. Buy a notebook and take plenty of notes. Who you talk to, the time and what was discussed. You want to have notes to refer back to so that you can prove that you have taken the steps you say you have.

Go to the FTC website to file your complaint. This can help you to gather the information the police report will require. They have a form for you at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/affidavit.pdf.

File a police report. While identity thieves are rarely caught, this helps you when you are disputing the various illicit accounts. Credit agencies and creditors will probably want the information about the case.

For all illicit accounts, talk to the fraud department. Explain the problem and have them close the account per your request. It can be difficult, as many places will insist that you enter an account number, which you won’t have.

Try calling another department and explain why you need a direct connection. Then get the phone number for that before they transfer you. Don’t wait to ask the person you are transferred to; many employees are just terrible at transferring calls and accidentally disconnect them instead. If they have the number and give it to you, you can save yourself some frustration. If they can’t give you a number, make sure you get it after the transfer.

Most companies will want everything in writing. Be prepared to make copies of the various documents and to have them notarized. For your own protection you should also send them by certified mail and get a return receipt so that you can prove you sent it and that it was received.

All of this is incredibly tedious and time consuming. Don’t think you’re going to get this resolved quickly or without frustration. Identity theft is a difficult issue to clear up. Try to be patient and let the fraud representatives help you. After a while you should get used to the routine required. It’s not going to be pleasant but it is very necessary.

And don’t forget that you can get your free credit report from each bureau annually.

Technorati Tags: identity theft, credit bureaus, free credit reports, crime