The Lumbermens Connection
Winter
2007
Decting Identity Theft: Monitor Your Credit Reports
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Statistic
of identity theft are staggering. In one year
alone, 10 million cases; billions of dollars lost;
one in eight families; and one in four people were
affected.
Identity
fraud is defined as access to personal account
information that leads to fraud, and U.S. consumers
lost nearly $57 billion to criminals who stole their
identities. For many, it meant months of frustration
spent clearing their credit records.
The light on the horizon is that in 2006 the numbers were reduced slightly because eithern thieves have been unsuccessful in using pilfered information to steal identities, or banks and personal information holding institution have better safeguards to prevent identity theft. Even thought lawmakers and financial institutions are taking steps to reduce then occurrence of identity theft, consumers can do a lot to make sure the cut down their risk associated with fraudulent activity.
Get Information Quickly
One of
then best methods to minimize risk is to stay
apprised of your credit data through regular credit
reports and monitoring. The more time between
when your identity is stolen and when your identity
is stolen and when you discover the theft and take
action, then more difficult and time consuming it
will be to untangle the mess.
Protect Credit Scores
Among
then confusion following identity theft and fraud, it
may be easy to forget that another problem comes with
it – damage to your credit score. Problems
resulting from identity theft can destroy your
credit. This can result in your inability to
obtain financing and how high or low the level of
interest you pay.
There are various credit rating agencies that you can access for a low fee but, in the long run doing so can save you significant dollars and frustration.
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