Thursday, October 30, 2008

Minimizing Your Risk from Identity Theft

By Rex Simpleton

Being a victim of identity theft is one of the worst things that could ever happen to someone. However there are certain steps that you can take in order to minimize your risk of becoming a victim of identity theft and here are some of them:

1.If you think that you have been a victim of fraud, the first thing you should do is contacting the fraud department of the credit card company to make sure that a fraud alert is made on your credit report.

The fraud alert will warn creditors to contact you whenever an account is opened using your name or if ever there are some changes that are to be made on your accounts. There are actually two types of fraud alerts---these are your initial alert and your extended alert.

The difference between these two fraud alerts is in terms of their duration. The initial alert usually last for ninety days on your credit report while the extended fraud alert stays much longer and last for as long as seven years. You can choose between these two frauds alerts the best one that you think will provide you with a better protection. Plus you only have to contact only one of the consumers reporting companies since it will simply relay to the other two the fraud alert.

2. Another good decision that should be made fast when it comes to identity theft is closing your account to prevent any transactions from being made. If you want to obtain information about any accounts opened in your name you should use the ID Theft Affidavit.

3. Complaining to the local police department in your city or filing a report concerning identity theft can be one of the best things to do when identity theft happens to you. Also, you should keep a copy of the report to show it to the creditors as a proof of the crime.

4. You also need to file a complaint at the Federal Trade Commission because they need to register your case in their identity theft cases database. When filing a complaint you will be informed about any legal issues and any problems that will come up during the process.

Nobody is protected from these types of frauds. All people can do is to try and be careful with their information. All over the internet criminals can take your personal information and use it to gain profit. Make sure that the companies you are dealing with are trustworthy and make sure that their methods of privacy are genuine.

Sometimes you will receive emails that will inform you about different prizes that you won; ignore those emails because they are not true and will only put your personal information in danger. You will be asked to fill a form with your personal information; most criminals use this method to gather information about people. Also, if you happen to receive such mails make sure that you inform the Federal Trade Commission about it to help prevent other people.

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