Tom St. Amand asked:




I admit it, I’m an idiot. I heard all those warnings, saw the news reports, thought about doing something about it, but never did. Then it happened, someone got a hold of my personal information, and stole my identity. I think I know how they did it, but I’m not sure. All I know is I felt scared and violated and I learned some hard lessons. One which is: to prevent or reduce the chance of identity theft, establish good credit monitoring habits.

The kind of identity theft I was a victim of was application fraud; when the thief gets your personal information, especially your social security number, and applies for credit cards and loans in your name. In these crimes victims do not learn their identity has been stolen for some time, because credit card statements are sent to a phony address. I was fortunate, in that one of the credit card company’s fraud divisions had called me to confirm that I had applied for a card. That is how I learned the value of monitoring my credit report and will now do so faithfully.

I cannot stress enough the value of checking your credit report on a regular basis, at the bare minimum, once a year. Credit bureaus are required, by federal law, to provide you one free report per year. Take advantage of it! But once a year may not be enough, if you check more often you can catch an unauthorized application early, and minimize the damage.

Here is an extra bonus for residents in Maine, Massachusetts, Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey, Vermont and Georgia. Credit bureaus are required, by state law, to furnish you a free report each year, (Georgia is required to furnish two). These are in addition to the reports required by federal law.

Never give out your social security number over the phone to anyone you do not already trust, and only if you initiated the call! This rule also applies to the internet.

I know you’re not an idiot, like me, so practice good credit monitoring habits and reduce your chances of being a victim!

Credit Bureau Contact Information:

Equifax: P.O. Box 740250, Atlanta, GA 30374- 0241.

Report fraud: Call (888) 766-0008 and write to address above.

TTY: (800) 255-0056

Experian: PO Box 9532

Allen TX, 75013

Report fraud: Call (888) EXPERIAN (888-397-3742) and write to address above.

TTY: Use relay to fraud number above.

Experian: PO Box 9532

Allen TX, 75013

TransUnion: P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790.

Report fraud: (800) 680-7289 and write to address above.

TTY: (877) 553-7803

E-mail (fraud victims only): fvad@transunion.com

Ramon

john c asked:


I was told by a credit repair attorney, they estimate by your job title, which is wrong, because i have several sources of income that is not listed on my credit report. Does anyone really know the answer?

Kelly