Identity theft may ruin your credit history score, if you are not serious and vigilant about protecting sensitive data contained in your credit report and other important documents.

Identity theft has become rampant in the United States and is the fastest growing consumer threat these days. Every day, there are many crimes that stem from identity theft and cause serious financial damage to innocent citizens.

Identity thieves employ many different and novel ways to steal personal information and use it unscrupulously to commit crimes, in your name.

The rapid advancement in computer and graphics technology has provided ID thieves with excellent tools to further hone their skills in crime. Complete mailboxes are stolen to get at personal and confidential information.

ID theft crimes are primarily fraudulent purchases and obtaining loans by fraudulently using other people’s information. Even more concerning is that social security numbers are used in terrorist activities and other crimes.

Records pertaining to 1999/2000 reveal that the majority of such ID theft is information taken from files of credit reporting companies meant for providing credit history scores.

This is a cause for grave concern and simple advice like ‘keeping checks in a secure place’ or ‘cleaning the wallet at regular intervals’ will not be sufficient to protect you from having your ID stolen.

Taking effective measures to prevent criminals from creating bogus identities and taking immediate action in event you do become a victim of ID theft is of the utmost importance.

If you are a user of credit product, your credit history score is vital to your fiscal health. Fraudulently obtaining a credit card, making heavy purchases, taking loans fraudulently are all seriously damaging to the consumer whose identity has been stolen.

As soon as you discover that your personal information has been stolen or even accidentally disclosed, initiate immediate action to minimize potential damage that may result.

In the first step, close all your compromised credit card accounts immediately. Then contact each of the three credit reporting agencies i.e. Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion with a request to immediately place a fraud alert on your credit reports (this initial alert will stay on the report for 3-6 months). Subsequent to your request, each agency you contact is supposed to convey the information/request to the other two agencies. But don’t assume they will do so in a timely manner.

It’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to protecting your credit history score. By placing the fraud alert on your credit history report you should be able to prevent anyone from fraudulently opening a credit card account under your identity.

The details for contacting the credit reporting agencies are as follows:

Equifax, P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241—Toll free Phone 1-800-525-6285 www.equifax.com

Experian, P.O. Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013 – Toll free Phone 1-888-397-3742 www.experian.com

TransUnion, Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790 Toll free Phone 1-800-680-7289 -- www.transunion.com

Keep monitoring your credit reports and your credit history score for any telltale signs of identity fraud. Watch out for missing or late bills, denial of credit or unfavorable terms for credit without any assigned reason, or being contacted by debt collectors about purchases you never made or receiving unsolicited credit cards. All these are indications of fraudulent activity.

After reporting ID theft to the credit bureau, you are entitled to one free credit report from each of the three agencies.

Since fraudulent activity does not reflect at once, wait for at least ninety days and then request your free credit report. Once you receive the credit report, check it for any suspicious activity like inquiries from companies you never contacted, debt entries you are not aware of or any accounts which you did not open.

These are just some steps for protecting yourself from loss and damage to your credit history score that may result from theft of your personal information.

For more detailed information, download our free I.D. Theft tools.

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