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Identity Theft
Identity theft is on the rise and experts say the small fee for periodically obtaining and reviewing your credit report is the best way to be sure no one  other than yourself has had credit cards issued or loans made in your name.
Usually, the first warning sign you get that someone has fraudulently assumed your identity is a call from
a collection agency demanding payment on a credit account you never opened. Or when you stop getting your monthly bills and find out a change of address has been made by an identity thief.
"I was phoned at work 2 years ago by a company trying to "give ME" a loan, asking me to verify my
employment since they had a Chicago address on a loan application, and I live in Massachusetts. I said it is NOT me and they said - well, we have an application in your name here - I said what to do?
They replied I should notify the three credit reporting agencies and have a fraud statement put on my credit report. I did that."
- Identity theft victim, Hyannis, MA
Most of the time, you'll never learn how the identity thieves got your personal
information in the first place and with today's technology it's virtually impossible to prevent access to all your personal information.
However, in our
credit-based society, having good credit is essential. Your credit can affect almost every part of your life – where you live; the car you drive; the type of financing
and interest rates you qualify for; opening a checking account; establishing utility services; and much more. Unfortunately, a good portion of the public remains
naïve as to how to monitor and protect their credit and identity.
You can take advantage of this new electronic age and protect yourself by
regularly obtaining your personal credit report and ensuring the information is accurate. The Internet has made reviewing your credit report as easy as it should be, a click of the mouse.
To effectively fight identity theft in the long term, consumers need to demand
legislative action to address the issue. In the meantime, to help make sure you're not the next victim, protect your personal information, reconcile your
monthly charge account statements and search for fraudulent charges. Most importantly, it's imperative to obtain a copy of your credit report
at least once
a year to monitor for unauthorized address changes and fraudulent account information. The Internet offers easy access to your credit report enabling you
to effectively monitor your credit for fraud. Most companies include with your credit report a key explaining how to read the report and a form for disputing errors.
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