Sometimes I long for the days of old, the days when we
could trust the people we deal with and never question
their integrity. Unfortunately, if we choose to use the
internet consistently, we must be prepared to be extremely
careful when we deal with anyone. When it comes to
protecting our credit, we must be even more careful than
ever.
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 CreditCheck
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.
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.
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.
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Mike Powers is an internet marketer who has developed a
website that gears itself towards helping people repair
their credit. The site offers tips and resources to get
people back on the right track. You can vist Mike's site
at:
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