Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information commit fraud.

You may not find out about the identity theft until you review your credit report or a credit card statement and notice charges you didn’t make. Sometimes you are contacted by a collection department, demanding payment for items you never bought. When the thieves use the credit cards and don’t make payments, delinquent accounts appear on your credit report. This results in a bad credit report and a very low credit score. It will then be difficult or impossible for you to obtain new credit for yourself. You often do not even find out about it until it is too late.

An Ounce of Prevention

LifeLock is the industry leader in identity theft protection. Their system is different because it is designed to prevent your identity from being stolen rather than reporting it after the fact. LifeLock backs up its service with a guarantee that they will handle any resolution of ID theft, with a $1,000,000 warranty. When you enroll with LifeLock you will get a credit report from the major credit bureaus and they will make sure you get these reports once a year. LifeLock requests on your behalf that fraud alerts are placed on your accounts. Once your fraud alerts have expired, LifeLock will ensure that they are renewed and continue to do so as long as you stay a client. They remove subscribers’ names from mailing lists for pre-approved credit applications to cut the risk of identity theft. They also get you removed from many junk mail lists. Click here to learn more.

Monitor Your Credit Report


Get Equifax Credit Watch

The best way to discover identity theft is to pay attention to your statements each month, and check your credit report regularly. You can get a copy of your credit report from any of the three credit bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. Get your Equifax credit report here. Once you receive it, check to see if it contains any items you do not know about. Equifax also offers a credit monitoring program called Credit Watch

Some of the steps you must take after discovering the fraud include filing a police report, checking your credit reports, notifying creditors, and disputing any unauthorized transactions. Immediately report the situation to the fraud department of the three credit reporting companies.

Some victims lose out on jobs or are declined for loans because of their bad credit score. You can take steps to protect yourself, and not be a victim.

The unfortunate truth of identity theft is that you, the victim, are responsible for cleaning up the mess and re-establishing your credit. If not detected early, it may take you months or years to clean up the damage done to your credit rating.