My Credit Report Info

If you think you have become a victim of identity theft, immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission FTC at 1-877-438-4338. The FTC is responsible for processing and handling identity theft cases and informing the appropriate entities. The FTC usually does contact the major Credit Reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) but it is usually better to contact them yourself too. Also contact your local FBI office and your local Police Station, file a report and keep a copy of the report in a safe place.

Then based on your case you might need to contact the following agencies too.

* Your local Post Office if you think your identity thief has submitted a change of address under your name.
* The Social Security Administration if the thief has used your social security.
* The Internal Revenue Service if the thief has used your identification information in violating tax laws

Check your Credit Report and make a list of all creditors with whom your information may have been used and inform them about the situation. If your checks have been stolen and used contact the merchant to whom the check was issued.

Finally keep a record of your correspondence with all the agencies in a safe place. You can use it later on to prove your innocence.

Note: Be careful of credit specialist who advertise that they can get your credit back up if you have been victimized by identity theft. Although there a handful of legitimate professional but a lot of them would suggest creating a new identity which is not right and completely illegal. Consult several credit professionals and legal advisors to make sure you do not get yourself into more problems.

What is Identity Theft?
Identity theft is no joke and for people who have been victims of identity theft know that very well. Identity theft is when some unauthorized person gathers information about a victim and uses that victim’s information for his fraudulent activities. These fraudulent activities can be stuff like withdrawing money out of a victim’s bank account, signing up for new credit cards or even getting a loan on a victim’s name. Identity theft is a very serious problem as the victims have to spend years straightening out everything and some have even been arrested for crimes not committed by them.

How to protect yourself from Identity Theft?
Protecting yourself from Identity theft is very important and being a little cautious can save you years of regret. Below are some of the steps you can take to protect identity theft.

* Make sure you know how your information will used when you are asked for it.
* Try to give the least amount of information needed.
* Your Social Security Number is very valuable and it is also the key to identity theft.
* Do not give out personal information over the phone or by unsecured mail.
* If you are asked to provide information over the web, then make sure the web page is secure.
* Always shred documents with personal information before disposing them. This also goes for the pre-approved junk mail that you get every now and then.
* Memorize you passwords/pins instead of writing them down in your wallet.
* And the most important of them all - check your Credit Report AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR to make sure that there are no unauthorized debts or activities.