Preventing Identity Theft With These Simple Tips August 27, 2008
Posted by janey in : credit score , comments closedPreventing identity theft is something we should all be thinking about. The identity thief steals your identity for the sole intention of committing fraud in your name. He wants access to your bank accounts, credit cards and even your email accounts and if he gets it, he’s going to leave you in a severe financial mess and possibly with several litigations.
Identity thieves want your Social Security card number, passwords and bank account, credit card number and other information. Therefore, in preventing identity theft, ensure that you have a foolproof system in place so you never accidentally give out financial information. So where are the potential dangers and risks that can compromise your security? Lets briefly take a look at some of them.
Your Mailbox: Keep it locked. It’s amazing how many people still think they live on Waltons mountain and don’t bother to lock their mailbox! It’s one of the easiest steps to take when preventing identity theft is your goal. Without it, it’s so easy for the identity thief to just walk past and grab your mail unnoticed. It’s also a good idea to cancel paper bank statements too and just use the online service for checking your account details.
Wallets and Purses: It seems obvious but guard your wallet at all times. Your wallet or purse may well contain all the information an identity thief requires. Never carry your social security number around with you, leave it somewhere safe at home. After all, when was the last time you were asked for your number in a normal day at work or out and about.
Trash Can: A shredder costs around $20 and is an essential tool in preventing identity theft. Known as dumpster diving, the active identity thief thinks nothing of rummaging through trash in the hope of finding a bank statement, a canceled check etc. The identity thief knows full well that dumpster diving is the easiest way of stealing an identity from someone. Don’t let it be yours!
Don’t Ignore The Professionals: A company like Life Lock charge around $10 a month and there are other similar companies now springing up. It could be a small price to pay for the peace of mind that comes with it.
Giving Away Information: The identity thief is a brazen thief. Posing as your doctors office, your bank etc. they will often phone or email folk asking for personal information. Emails especially seem to work well for them, probably because of the sheer numbers. Software allows them to email millions at a time so it only requires less than 1% to comply and they’ve had a good day at work. Never give out social security numbers, bank account details and especially passwords. Your online bank, ebay, Amazon etc. NEVER ask for your password in an email.
Lockers and Storage: Its a sad fact that you are likely to know the person who steals your identity. Put your own lock on lockers at work and the gym. If you are flat sharing, don’t leave any personal documents around and if you put anything in stowage at you friends/brother in laws etc. garage or basement, put personal things under lock and key.
The above are just a few of the many steps you should be taking if you are serious about preventing identity theft. For many more tips and advice on preventing identity theft please feel free to grab your copy of our complimentary ebook, “Facts About Identity Theft“
Is It Possible that Free Credit Report Assist with Credit Fraud Repair? August 21, 2008
Posted by janey in : credit score , comments closedAt times, our credit scores may be damaged as a result of problems that we have financially. Getting an annual free credit report will help for the most part. But, there are times, that credit fraud is the culprit that causes our low credit scores. In order for us to overcome this problem, we may need to seek the help of somebody who specializes in credit fraud repair and can help us to fix the problem relatively quickly.
After all, having low credit scores can hurt our ability to be able to seek funding and may actually cost us in the form of higher interest rates on our existing credit cards.
The first step in any credit fraud repair process is to recognize the fact that there was some credit fraud that took place. All of us are entitled to a free credit report on an annual basis. We should do the best to pulling our credit report regularly in order to see if there are any problems that are occurring on it. It may also be of interest to us to hire a service that will regularly pull our credit in order to check for any fraudulent data that may be on it. You never know when credit fraud repair may be needed and just using your annual free credit report may not be often enough. Many of the fraud repair services pull credit reports on a quarterly basis and will instantly let us know if there is any kind of fraud is smelling in the air.
The most common type of fraud is identity theft and this is really becoming a problem in many areas of the world. Instead of worrying about credit fraud repair as a result of identity theft, it is often better for us to take preventative measures in order to ensure that it does not happen in the first place. All it really takes is for us to throw out one bill or a piece of paper with some personal information included on it in order for this identity theft to take place. Credit fraud repair as a result of this is often lengthy and may require you to jump through a lot of hoops before everything is finally fixed.
If it is only a matter of something being on your credit report that doesn’t belong there, you may not actually need credit fraud repair in order to overcome it. You can contact the credit agency and fill out the appropriate forms in order to have the error removed. You then have the choice of either paying for a re-score in order to bump your numbers immediately or wait a few months until it happens automatically.
Having solved these problems it will be a lot easier to handle even such tricky things as the problem to refinance for bad credit or other credit and finance problems that one may encounter.
