Credit Monitoring
Your bank account, medical reports, and school transcripts are all more or less protected by Federal and state laws. The trouble is, there’s just not enough privacy. There are huge gaps in the legal protections. Our privacy is rapidly being eroded by technology, commercial interests, and increasing government surveillance. To ensure you know who has access to your identity details and credit you must vigilantly monitor them both to catch any wrongdoing before some serious damage is done.
Identity theft is a serious problem. With your identity, criminals can run up bills, take out loans, and skip bail – all in your name. Left unchecked, they can seriously impair your ability to obtain a loan, medical insurance, student aid, housing, or employment. According to the FTC, there were nearly 10 million victims of identity theft in 2003. In most cases the theft wasn’t committed electronically, but the old-fashioned way – from stolen wallets, credit card receipts, unopened or misdirected mail, or eavesdropping.
Your mailbox is a prime target for identity thieves. Credit cards, bills, and receipts are all sent here and could be pinched and used by a thief to create new accounts in your name. You can monitor who passes your information about by contacting the big credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, Innovis, and TransUnion) and ask them to stop selling your information for use in pre-approved credit card offers. You can choose to have your information suppressed for five years or permanently: http://www.optoutprescreen.com
You also should think about the outgoing information from your home. Identity thieves are known to trawl through trashcans to get ID information. Invest in a high quality shredder to shred your personal information before disposing of it or contact your Post Office and have all your commercial mail directed to a private Post Office box or mailbag.
If your wallet ever goes missing you should call and cancel all your cards immediately. Regardless of whether your card is stolen, you should still get in the habit of monitoring your credit card account (you can do so online) at least once a week. Four major credit card reporting agencies can be found at:
-Equifax http://www.equifax.com
-Experian http://www.experian.com
-Innovis Consumer Assistance http://www.innovis.com
-TransUnion LLC http://www.transunion.com
You can contact any of these companies to inquire about a credit monitoring service. For a monthly or yearly fee they will keep an eye on your credit activity and contact you if any changes or suspicious activity is detected. Prices start from as little as $5 to $10 per month.
In the U.S., under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act, everyone has the right to an annual free credit report. This is an excellent and pain free service way to monitor your annual credit activity and keep on top of things. Visit the site at http://www.annualcreditreport.com
