Posts

Identity Theft? Take a Deep Breath & Follow These Steps

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Many people assume that they never have to worry about identity theft.

They assume people only want to steal the identities of those with great credit scores or bank accounts.

But here’s the truth…

In 2017, nearly 17 million people had their identity stolen. 

Many of them were just average Americans who worked regular jobs and weren’t bringing in high amounts of money.

Naturally, they never expected that they would be a victim of identity theft.

 

How Does Someone Pull Off Identity Theft?

There are quite a few ways that a person can pull off identity theft. Some simply jot down people’s personal information at the business where they work.

Some people take mail that was wrongfully delivered to them and use it to create false accounts in other people’s names.

There are even times when friends and family members will steal your identity to purchase something that they want or get utilities turned on in your name.

When you fall prey to identity theft, you need to act quickly to minimize the consequences.

These are the steps you should take…

 

Step One: Contact Your Bank and Creditors Right Away

The first thing you need to do when you notice you’ve been a victim of identity theft is contact your bank and your creditors right away.

You need to let them know what has happened, find out if any charges or accounts have been opened in your name that you aren’t aware of.

You also need to know if anyone has contacted your bank on your behalf.

Instruct your bank to put a hold on all of your accounts so that no account transactions go through.

Also, ensure that nothing can be charged to your credit cards by ordering a replacement as soon as possible.

The sooner your bank or credit card company aware of the situation – the more damage you prevent from happening.

 

Step Two: Check Your Credit Reports

Credit reports will have documentation of any new accounts that have been opened. You can go online to visit the Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion websites to get a copy.

Remember that the law states you are eligible to pull one free copy of your credit report annually.

If you already got a copy of your report once this year, you may have to pay a fee to get an updated copy.

Once you get your report you need to be able to look closely at everything that has been opened in your name.

You also want to make sure that there are no outstanding debts or loans that you don’t know about.

Each of the reports from the three credit bureaus will contain unique information so that’s why you need to get a copy of all three of them.

Check your reports again after 30 days, because it takes credit bureaus time to update your information after they are opened.

When it comes to identity theft, you don’t want to leave any stone unturned.

 

Step Three: Sign Up for Credit Monitoring

Experian and TransUnion offer you the ability to sign up for credit monitoring.

This allows you to be alerted of new credit inquiries, accounts, or debts.

You may have to pay a small fee for the services, but it will be well worth the cost if it allows you to prevent your credit from being ruined.

Websites like Credit Karma and Credit Sesame have free credit monitoring services that are a great help.

 

Step Four: Go to the Police

Once you have evidence of the identity theft through your credit reports or other information collected in the process of your investigation, file a police report.

And remember…

Even if you have an idea of who may have stolen your identity it is best to avoid any confrontation – which could be potentially dangerous.

The police are there to help.

The police will create a report that details why you believe you have been a victim of identity theft, what proof you have, and an investigation will be opened to try to determine what is really going on with your identity.

Never underestimate the seriousness of identity theft.

It doesn’t stop at opening accounts in your name.

Those who participate in identity theft can get into legal trouble, claim to be you and then you will be responsible for proving you did not do whatever crime they committed.

Reporting the situation to the police provides you with important paperwork that you can give to your creditors.

It also ensures that if anyone gets in trouble using your name there will be proof of the identity theft which could keep you from being held liable for the other person’s decisions.

 

Step Five: File a Fraud Alert with the Credit Bureaus

Once you have the police report, you need to contact the credit bureaus directly and provide them with the proof that your identity was stolen.

They will be able to open up an investigation and work with the police to ensure that any questionable activity is properly documented.

This can also ensure that you aren’t held liable for the charges or delinquencies the person creates while they are using your identity. This can save you a lot of irritation and money in the end.

 

Step Six: Fax Identity Theft Reports to Your Creditors

Last but not least, it is important to provide your creditors with proof that your identity was stolen.

Fax a copy of the police report to each of your creditors and advise them to issue out replacement cards, or put your account on hold temporarily.

It’s also a good idea to contact local utility companies and let them know about the situation. They can flag your name in their computer system so no new accounts can be opened in your name.

You also may want to tell your friends and family what happened and that you went to the police. If someone is guilty of stealing your identity, they may fess up to the crime if they think they could be facing serious punishment for it.

 

Sources

[1] Facts + Statistics: Identity theft and cybercrime | III. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-identity-theft-and-cybercrime

[2] Identity Theft | USAGov. (2019, February 14). Retrieved from https://www.usa.gov/identity-theft

Credit Repair Scam

/0 Comments/in /by

A firm based out of Texas is the newest target in Arkansas for falsely stating it can do credit repair and is again charging up front which is a violation of federal law. TRW Ventures is the firm that is in violation of how you can legally charge for credit repair, the suite against them is aimed at not only stopping their practices, as well as seeking restitution for people who fell victim of this companies practices. The problem with this specific firm is that they are offering credit repair, taking the money from the potential client up front, while not actually providing any service for the money that is being fronted. People who seek credit repair often times fall victim to these organizations due to the fact that they feel it is a last chance to improve their financial record. Credit repair like anything else you are thinking of engaging in requires research, look hard into a company before you leap into anything. Meaning don’t just simply take the first one you see online, no matter what situation financially you are in, some of these credit repair companies are simply scams just like this company proved to be. Credit repair is something that people really can use in many cases, however just always be weary of the company that is offering the services, if they are claiming to be able to work miracles they probably cannot. Financial information is all numbers, and therefore follows probabilities, meaning miracles are often times out of the question.

 

Credit Repair Scams – Major Cause!

/0 Comments/in /by

Now in these economic crisis days credit repair scams have been rising enormously. The main reason of the rising credit repair scams is the huge numbers of bankruptcies and record level of foreclosures. Credit card delinquencies and late mortgage payments are also some other causes of the appearance of credit repair scams. Though credit repair business is getting so much popularity among those people who are in financial crisis but the appearance of credit repair scam is providing harmful result for many people who are facing foreclosure or bad credit. Many people fall victim to bad credit because they don’t have any option. Credit repair is not that kind of process that happens over night.

Like other scams credit repair scams also forcing people to believe to provide unbelievable results within short time and those people who are suffering from financial crisis get fall into their trap to solve their financial problem. But at the end they loose everything buy getting nothing. You can avoid such scams by learning what kind of credit repair scams available there. You can also take advice of some experience campaigners to get rid of credit repair scams. Always avoid choosing those companies who are offering mouth watering proposal to solve your bad credit. The new credit files do at times get mistakenly made at a credit bureaus, and a few of the credit repair scams can exploit a system to try as well as intentionally force the new file to get created. Once again, it is totally illegal. Some other credit repair scams can make use of the fraudulent methods to get the new social security number or the new identity.

You need to steer clear in case, there is even the subtle indication of giving you totally clean slate and the new credit file. The credit repair company will certainly stand it behind the services with the money back satisfaction assurance. But, to make the firm promise of some outcome and point increase in the score just will not be done. Also, there are a lot of factors out of the control & out of the control to promise the specific result with an absolute certainty. Any of the statements about the typical and the target outcomes must at least leave open all possibility that it might not at all happen despite the best efforts.

 

How to Get Rid Off Credit Repair Scams!

/0 Comments/in /by

It is always a daunting task to choose a right credit repair company as there are lots of companies floating around. It will be a hesitation for all people to choose the good from the bad as many credit repair scams are revolving around there. Due to the appearance of credit repair scams credit repair industry have gotten a bad image up late. It is always important for people to treat carefully as the involvement of credit repair scams. However, there are few things if people take into consideration they can avoid such problems. If any company is charging hefty amount of fees before providing the service you should always say no to them. Normally most of the credit repair scams will ask for a good amount of money before doing something. However a good credit repair service does not charge anything until your case setup. You should avoid those following things while choosing credit repair service.

  • You should avoid those credit repair companies which are not following industry standards and regulations
  • People should avoid those companies which are claiming they can eliminate negative information from your credit history.
  • You should avoid those companies which are not offering any written disclosure about your rights in link to your credit history.

The credit repair service will just promise to help you out to try as well as remove all the inaccurate information from the credit card report. In order, to say or else imply they will remove all the negative items, irrespective of the accuracy, and is one more big sign of the scam. There is the distinction being made here though. Lots of credit reports are all riddled with the inaccuracies by sloppiness of credit bureaus & creditors, and so there are damaging inaccuracies, which most of the consumers are not aware of.

Example, in case, you had the charge off as well as it is on the credit report, and it is mere presence will not make that accurate. Even seemingly the small inaccuracies are damaging & will always get disputed. But, deliberately disputing the entry, which is known being 100% accurate is not at all allowed. Keep the points in your mind while looking to hire any of the credit repair company. Above all, in case, something just does not smell very right, then keep looking somewhere else.

 

A new and clean credit file

/4 Comments/in /by

Credit Repair Scam: We can get you a new, clean credit file. Ya right, not legally. Some firms will try to get customers to apply for a new taxpayer identification number or Employer Identification Number (also called an EIN) for the purpose of building a new credit history. This is a big felony and you can go to jail for this. Credit repair.

But people get taken because con artists who don’t explain the whole scheme, so consumers don’t realize what they are being asked to do can land them in the big house just for trying to repair their credit. Assuming of course that consumers may not know that getting a new number to create a new credit history is illegal. And the whole concept is based on faulty reasoning. Since the new file will list the same name and address, it would still have all the same information and history, even with a new number. Credit repair.

Credit repair: Beware if anyone talks about getting you a new credit file, file segregation or a fresh credit history. Long story short, this is a big credit repair scam.