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Prevent Identity Theft by Checking Your Credit Report

You may not know it but you are entitled to a free copy of
your credit report once a year from Equifax, Experian and
Trans Union!

These three major credit reporting companies, maintain a
profile of how you pay your bills, what type of mortgage
loan you qualify for and whether you've been sued or filed
for bankruptcy.

However, this free credit reporting service is not available
in all areas of the United States yet.

The service has been available in the twelve western United
States since January 1, 2005. It is now available in
Midwestern states since March 1, 2005.

On June 1, 2005 the service will be available to individuals
in Southern United States and for those in the Eastern
United States starting September 1, 2005.

This service is provided under the Fair and Accurate Credit
Transactions Act (FACT).
It is in response to the raising number of identity thief
reported in the U.S.

The law lets you see what lenders, prospective employers or
prospective landlords see.

An addition goal is to help you spot identity theft by
letting you to see a list of all credit accounts open in
your name. For you to view your report regularly may be the
best ways you have to determine how your credit rating
stands and if you have been a victim of identity theft.

You have the ability to request one credit report from each
of the three credit reporting companies once a year.

The best way to make the most of this free credit report
opportunity is by ordering a credit report from one of the
three credit companies every three-four months. In that way
you can monitor your credit regularly at no cost.

The official website that you can get your credit report
information is -- www.annualcreditreport.com.

Once you are at the site, you will able to link to the three
credit companies, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, special
web pages to get your credit report.

However, be aware of the advertising on each agency's free
credit report site that may lead you to believe that you
must purchase one or more of there other services, like your
personal credit score number, to get your free credit
report.

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act does not
prevent these credit reporting companies from advertising
their other services before you are able to get to your free
credit report.

When you are at one of the credit reporting company’s site
pages it is not clear that you may get your free credit
report without purchasing any of the company’s other
services.

As you visit the credit reporting company’s site you may get
the impression that you must pay to see your “credit score”
(also called a FICO score) before you are able to see your
free credit report.

This is not the case, your credit score is the number
calculated on a scale between about 300 and 925. It is used
when you're buying a new car, house or other major
purchases. You'll still have to pay one of the credit
companies a fee to see that number. This credit score number
is different from the information within your free credit
report.

The official site is separate from the credit reporting
companies’ regular sites, where you still must pay to get
your credit information.

In addition, there are a few look-alike sites you may
confuse with the official free credit report site. These
other sites may have been setup for outright credit fraud.
Be very careful that you are working with the official site
setup and maintained by Central Source, a joint venture
among the three credit companies to process these free
credit reports -- www.annualcreditreport.com. If you receive
an offer through the mail, via phone call or an email to
provide your credit report for a fee, it is probably
fraudulent.

Here's how to Request your free Credit Report

Online: www.annualcreditreport.com.

Or you can call toll-free: 877-322-8228

Or order by mail:
Annual Credit Report Request Service,
P.O. Box 105281,
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

If you request report by mail you must mail in a request
form available on the site of the Federal Trade Commission:

www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/credit/docs/factactrequestform.pdf

The reports are sent to you within 15 days.

If you're ordering your report online, it's best to go to
the www.annualcreditreport.com site directly rather than to
go through the one of the three credit reporting company’s
sites. You may get your free report at their sites but you
first must go through their advertising for monthly
credit-monitoring programs and other services they offer to
get your free report.

If you do this inquiry online, be sure to do your inquiry
from your home computer because you'll need to have certain
financial information handy to answer security questions.

You'll be asked a series of personal questions to make sure
you are the person that you say you are, including your
birth date and Social Security number.

Central Source says its security protocols and measures
protect personal information from unauthorized access or
record alteration. In addition, your Social Security number
is encrypted for your additional protection.

And you can request that just the last four digits of that
number appear on your printed credit report.

As mentioned above, you may request one report from each
credit company once a year. To get the best use of this free
service, it's best to request your credit report from one
credit company this month and request your credit report
from another credit company about three-four months latter.
Then request the third version of your report about
three-four months after that.

After you request the credit company that you want to
provide your credit report you'll be redirected to special
site pages set up by each of the three credit companies.
Each will ask you a series of personal questions to validate
your identity; the name of your mortgage lender, the amount
of your monthly payment, the amount of your auto loan, etc.

Each of the three has a different look and feel:

~ Experian has a handy summary report that shows the number
of "potentially negative" items in your report and number of
accounts in good standing.

~ Equifax shows an exhaustive list of accounts, what type
they are, when they were opened, the balance and credit
limit, last payment and account status.

~ TransUnion uses a color-coded series of boxes to show
which accounts are current and which are overdue.

All three show who else has been looking at your credit
report, credit card companies seeking to approve you for a
credit card offer, mortgage brokers, lenders trying to
determine the terms of a loan, or existing creditors
reviewing your account.

You can choose to just look at the information online or
print the complete report. Your credit report may be dozens
of pages long to view or print.

All three offer links for disputing credit report
information or reporting an error. You'll also get the
address and sometimes the phone number for each individual
creditor, handy if you need to follow up on an error.

You are also offered the option of submitting a "personal
statement" where you can explain your credit report in your
own words. The statement remains on file for two years.

Your basic credit report is free but as you go about getting
to your credit information, you'll have to contend with
multiple offers for fee-based products and services. You do
not have to buy any of them to get your free credit report.
The credit companies have loaded their pages with offers for
monthly credit-report alerts, credit rankings, home
valuators or credit score.

Summery: Getting Your Credit Report

Free credit reports can be obtained once a year by
telephone, by mail or online from the official site operated
by Central Source for Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

~ Online: www.annualcreditreport.com

~ Toll-free number: 877.322.8228

~ Mailing address:
Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281,
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

It will take up to 15 days to process phone and mail
requests.

You do not have to pay anything to get your free credit
report.

However, if you want to get a credit score or other extras,
you may be charged a fee.

Additional reports can be obtained anytime directly from the
credit reporting companies at prices ranging from $9 for one
report from one agency to $34.95 for a combined report from
all three.

If you want to receive the reports by mail, you must mail in
a request form available on the site of the Federal Trade
Commission:
www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/credit/docs/factactrequestform.pdf

For more information: Check out the FTC's site:
www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.htm

You can also make a complaint online at that site address.

Credit Report Tips

You don't have to order all three reports at once. Stagger
your requests so you can view your credit over the year;
i.e.: order one report now, the next report in three months
and the third report in about six months. Then next year you
would be eligible for another free report from the first
credit company. This currently only applies to those in the
Western and Midwestern U.S. The rest of the county will have
to want until their regional roll-out.

If you are planning a major purchase, you may want to get
all three reports at once to make sure there isn't any
information that might affect your credit.

Read the report to make sure everything is accurate. Each
agency has an address or number you can call to report
errors. If you are disputing an item listed, the credit
agency is required to investigate. Inaccurate, incomplete or
unverifiable information must be removed or corrected,
usually within 30 days. For more information on
credit-report disputes, go online to the Federal Trade
Commission at www.ftc.gov/credit.

If you have any technical problems, you get kicked off the
site, you never get a report requested by phone or mail, or
you only get one of the three reports you request -- write
to the joint mailing address, Annual Credit Report Request
Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281, and
explain the problem.

If you have been the victim of identity theft, you are
eligible to get a free credit report from all the agencies
even if you've already received your free annual report
under the program.

If you have complaints about the program, contact the FTC
online at www.ftc.gov/credit then click on "File a
Complaint." or you can write to FTC Consumer Response
Center, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Room 130, Washington,
D.C. 20580. You can also send a written complaint to the
official credit-report site at the Atlanta address listed
above.

Copyright Steven Presar

Steven Presar is a recognized small business technology coach, Internet publisher, author, speaker, and trainer. He provides personal, home, and computer security solutions at www.ProtectionConnect.com. He provides business software reviews at www.OnlineSoftwareGuide.com. In addition, he publishes articles for starting and running a small business at www.Agora-Business-Center.com. Be sure to sign-up for the SOHO newsletter at this site.

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