The warning signs can start innocently enough that you don’t even
recognize them as being warning signs of impending doom. Perhaps it’s
a letter from your credit card company about a credit application. It
might be a call from your bank inquiring about your application for a
line of credit. Do not be fooled into thinking these are innocent
mistakes. Large financial companies do not make innocent mistakes
anymore when it comes to your credit.

As soon as these things start occurring, recognize them for what
they might very well be telling you. You have been the victim of
identity theft and the thief is attempting to purchase goods and
services, running up large bills and debts only to leave you to pay
the cost of the party.

Identity theft is unfortunately all too common, being listed as the
# 1 consumer complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. Nearly
seven million people were victimized in 2003, representing an 80%
increase over the previous year. Even worse, only a small portion of
the thieves are ever prosecuted, even when the police are certain
they know who the thief is. The reason for that is because most cases
require that a witness see the suspect filling out a credit
application or signing to receive goods in the victims’ name.

What can you do when the first signs of identity theft start
trickling into your mail box or answering machine? Here are 5 actions
you can do in an attempt to minimize the impact the theft will leave
on your own good name.

Step 1: Damage Control.

You have to start doing Damage Control at the very first sign that
you might have been the victim of identity theft. As soon as you
receive notice about credit applications you know you have not
inquired about, notify the local police and file a report that you
believe your identity has been stolen. If your purse was lost or
stolen, you should have done this immediately. Get that report on
file because it is important to have documentation if there is to be
even a small chance your impersonator will be prosecuted.

After the police report, you need to contact the three major credit
reporting agencies (CRAs) and the Federal Trade Commission. The box
below gives you the necessary information.

Federal Trade Commission
(877) ID-THEFT

TransUnion - Fraud Victim Assistance
POB 6970
Fullerton, CA 92834
(800)-680-7289
www.transunion.com

Equifax - Consumer Fraud Division
POB 740256
Atlanta, GA 30374
(800) 525-6285
www.equifax.com

Experian - Consumer Assistance
POB 2002
Allen, TX 75013
(888) 397-3742
www.experian.com

By contacting them about the false credit applications being made in
your name, you will activate fraud alerts on your credit file. This
is supposed to prompt lenders to inform you of any new requests for
credit, giving you a chance to explain it was an identity thief, not
you. Sometimes this works. Sometimes it does not and the credit
company goes ahead and gives the thief credit in your name.

You should check your credit reports from each of the three bureaus
to look for items that are not of your doing. Even if there is no
fraud evident, you will want to be watching your report at least
every other month for the next six months. If you see signs of
unusual activity, or the fraud alerts work and you begin to receive
calls from lenders, contact the lenders and credit extenders and
explain it wasn’t you. If the impersonator visited them in person,
ask them for a description. Then move onto:

Step 2: Understand that Reality Bites.

After you receive the second notice of someone seeking credit in
your name, or see any unusual activity on your report you need to:

A. Re-contact the police about this theft

B. Call the CRAs again to renew your fraud alerts which can expire
in 90 days.

C. Request copies of your report from each of the CRAs. A fraud
alert is supposed to notify all three to send you a report without
cost, but make three separate requests to make sure you quickly
receive each CRA report. If need be, hound them until they hand over
what by law they are required to provide you because of your fraud
alert.

Step 3: Get Busy.

Statistically, recovering from identity theft can take more than 600
hours of effort on your part to clear your name. Much of that time
will likely be spent in that never-never land of a company’s
telephone-hold pattern listening to their music selection. Another
big chunk of time will be spent explaining and correcting, re-
explaining and re-correcting and maybe needing to go over for a third
time matters you had though corrected or already explained.
For every action you take, you must keep a precise log of action,
the details are highly important. Just as it was important for you to
notify the police immediately upon recognizing you were facing
identity theft, you must deal with all the companies that think you
owe them money as soon as you are aware of them.

Using a spreadsheet chart with headings like “Company”, “Date”,
“Representative”, “Time Spent”, and “Response” will help you keep
track of whom you talk to, about what and when you spoke. Good record
keeping is vital. Whenever you write, send the letter certified mail,
and staple the confirmation receipt with your other records.
Another advantage of the certified letter is the time stamp. Credit
reporting agencies are required to respond within 30 days - it’s the
law. That time stamp on the envelope, and the fact the CRA signed for
the letter improves your chance of a quick response. You need to take
as much control of the situation as possible.

One important part of this step is to take care of yourself, do a
weekend getaway once in a while if you want. The thing is to
recognize that a sense of helplessness and loss of control is common
when going through an identity theft situation. Deal with the
feelings when they occur, take a break from the ordinary routine as
needed, try to relax on occasion and not let the situation run away
with you.

Creditors are likely to start hounding you, demanding payment for
goods you never bought. Your assertive actions, such as placing the
fraud alerts with the CRAs, reporting to the police, and keeping
track of all contacts with creditors will help you clear your name.
It will also help you prove to the creditors that you do not owe them
the money your impersonator stole from them.

Step 4: Fix what’s broken.

Be diligent in your activity. Do not let the blockheadedness of
credit company representatives get you down; the burden of proof is
on you to show that you did not order those goods. Keep calling,
emailing, and sending certified letters repeatedly until you get all
the false information removed from your credit report.

If this happens to you, always identify yourself as a victim of
identity theft and supply the company with a notarized ID Theft
Affidavit available at www.ftc.gov. Becoming a criminal reporter will
help as you piece together what the thief has done by asking as many
questions as you can.

Step 5: Recovery.

Does anyone truly recover from an ID theft experience?

Looking at your credit report from the three bureaus at least once a
year is important for everybody to do. For a victim of ID theft, it
is imperative. Starting December 1, a nationwide system of fraud
detection and alerts will create procedural standards CRAs must
follow when a consumer reports an incident of identity theft. By
September 2005 everyone will be able to request a free credit report
once a year.

In the event that you are ever the victim of identity theft, by
being proactive you may be able to shorten the duration of your
recovery. If you are fortunate enough to live in California or Texas,
state law allows identity theft victims to freeze their credit
reports. This means a bank or creditor has to request permission via
a PIN number from you.

Credit report attorneys warn against failing to stay vigilant,
though. The danger is that negative data can return to your credit
report, so do not assume that once fixed, the problem will stay fixed
for good. Keep checking your credit reports at least once a year just
to make the past problems do not return to haunt you in the future.
Fighting to clear your name takes time, effort, and expense on your
part. The good news, though, is that you can get all the fraudulent
accounts closed, the black marks removed from your credit report, and
resume some semblance of normalcy in your life. There is no
guarantee that these actions will work, that depends on your
persistence and good fortune. However, not taking these steps will
guarantee you many years of misery, excessive interest rates, denied
credit and mental anguish.

Roger Sorensen

America’s Financial Guide can be found at ==>http://www.Slave2Work.com Subscribe to Money Basics via http://www.slave2work.com/ezine.html

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How To Get Credit

Everyone needs a personal line of credit. Many people have credit issues that cause them problems when trying to secure loans or obtain a line of credit. In today’s world it is essential to have a personal line of credit. For those just starting out in the world of credit it is important to learn how to build and maintain their personal credit.

Frustrating, But Possible

Starting out a personal credit history can be difficult. Most often when you apply for a line of credit you will be told that you have an insufficient line of credit. This is like a “chicken and egg” scenario.

To get credit they want you to have credit, but you can’t have credit if they won’t give it you. Confusing and frustrating, isn’t it? There are some lines of credit that you can get without having to have a credit history first.

Start Small

The most common place to start on building your credit is with a department store card. These cards are not associated with a major credit card company and can only be used at the specific department store. They give you a small line of credit to start out. You should pay your bills on time and keep a small amount of free credit on the card. After some time they will review your account and give you more credit. All the time this is being reported to the credit bureaus and building you a personal credit history. Other ways of building a credit history are to get cable or satellite service in your name. Phone companies and some other utility companies also report to the credit bureaus. The key is to start small.

Pace Yourself, and Don’t Slip Up

Building your personal credit takes time and will not happen overnight. Building anything is hard work. Keep at it and do not slip on paying your bills in a timely manner. Once you get started it is easy to get carried away, so always be aware of your outstanding debt. Good credit can easily slip into bad credit and that is worse than no credit at all.

Gerald Washam is the owner of a website devoted to personal credit and credit repair issues. Learn the secrets to repairing, improving and maintaining your credit score. Secrets THEY don’t want you to know. Arm yourself with the knowledge you need before contacting the Credit Bureaus. Know what your rights are. Visit us here http://www.creditrepaird.com to find your way to personal credit freedom.

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By know, you know that too many inquiries can hurt your credit score.
If you are trying to get a credit card with a really good rate, you may
have been shopping around for a while so that you can get the best
possible deal. Chances are, you may have found a few different cards that
you like, but there were a couple of things that you did not like about
each one. Sometimes, you will find one that you like but you have to
pay an annual fee. Other times, you will find one with no annual fee but
there will be really high late charges or other miscellaneous fees.

However, you should not be applying for all of these cards. Looking
through all of the terms for each one of them is one thing, but applying
for all of them is another. Were you aware that making a number of
inquiries could actually hurt your credit score? Well, it can and could
actually end up doing quite a bit more damage than you would think.

The truth of the matter is, every single time that you apply for a
credit card or inquire about any type of a loan or store credit, the
information will show up on your credit report. This is called a “hard
inquiry”. A hard inquiry can actually drop your credit score by several
points. Many times, people will apply for different kinds of credit while
they are completely unaware that the inquiries are going against their
credit score. It is actually too bad that this information is not given
to these individuals up front so that better choices may be made.

Another common misunderstanding is that requesting a copy of your
credit report can actually hurt you. However, this type of an inquiry is
called a “soft inquiry” and should never count against your credit
score. If this kind of error ever shows up on your credit report and it is
showing against you, it is very important that you go through the steps
to resolve the error immediately.

Mortgage Inquiries

The credit reporting agencies have made one exception knowing that
today there are so many mortgage companies you can go to for a home
loan. They have made it that multiple mortgage inquiries made within 14
days are treated as one inquiry. You should try to do all your “rate
shopping” within a 30 day period. These inquires are generally not counted
against your score.

Many creditors will look to see the exact amounts of credit inquiries
that you do have on your credit report. Depending on the guidelines of
each creditor, four or more inquiries within a certain time frame of six
to nine months can be considered to be quite an excessive amount. If
they do deem this amount of credit inquiries as excessive, they could end
up denying your credit request. This request and denial will then show
up on your credit report along with any others that you may have. All
of these inquiries will hurt your credit score. So choose what you apply
for carefully and really think about whether or not this new credit
card or loan is worth dropping your credit score by a few points.

Liz Roberts is a loan consultant with NewHorizon Finance and has been
providing consumers and business owners with financing since 1989. Not
sure which credit card is right for you? Click here for
credit card reviews. Bad Credit? Join our mailing list for tips on building and
repairing your credit.

Copyright 2006

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