More and more people are getting their identities stolen. Identity Theft Protection is now a service that credit card companies and banks that give out debit cards offer. Here are some things you can do if your name or social security number are stolen.
The first thing you should do is call each of the three major credit bureaus and ask for their fraud departments. Equifax has a number that is free to call (1-800-525-6285). Another credit bureau is Experian, which can be reached at 1-888-397-3742. TransUnion is also one of the three biggest credit reporting agencies, and you can call them at 1-800-680-7289. You want them to put a fraud alert on your file. Also, every time a new account is opened in the future, have the credit bureaus call you and ask for copies of your credit reports.
Next, start calling your creditors, which is the company you have a credit card with, not the credit bureau, and talk to the security or fraud department. Then tell the police what happened. You can give it to the police in your area. Lastly, tell the Federal Trade Commission about the theft of your identity. The number to call the FTC for free is 1-877-438-4338. You can also ask them to send you a free book about identity theft.
Since we're talking about credit reports, here's something else you might want to remember. You can get a free credit report once a year by going to www.annualcreditreport.com or calling 1-877-322-8228. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act was made by Congress in 2003. Consumers can now get a free credit report every 12 months from each of the three major credit bureaus. The year runs from September 1 to August 31. To get the most out of this law, you should only request a credit report from one of the bureaus every four months. There are a lot of other websites that say they offer free credit reports, but most of the time they charge a fee. Keep to the free reports you can get from the reporting bureaus unless you really need to know your credit score. The only website that is allowed to give you a free credit report is annualcreditreport.com. If you get an email that says it's from www.annualcreditreport.com, you should send it to [email protected].
Most of us get a lot of mail advertising credit cards. Most of the time, they will say that you have already been "screened" or "approved." Most of the time, these mails are safe. You don't have to worry about your identity being stolen from these companies. If you want to reply to one of these mailings, you should take the letter to the post office and have it sent. You also don't have to worry that these mailings will hurt your credit report. There won't be any kind of "inquiry" or bad mark on your record. If you are still worried about credit or identity theft, you can call 1-888-5-OPTOUT or visit http://www.optout.presreen.com to get in touch with the opt out organisation. You can decide to stop getting mail for anywhere from a few months to a few years. But keep in mind that "pre-screened" offers are usually not open to the public, and sometimes they are only available by mail.
