I spent two days this week learning about identity theft, internet security, mortgage fraud, and personal security. Over the next few blogs, I'll share with you some of the things I've learned that I think would be helpfull to you. When it comes to ID theft, you may be startled at the information available out there. Records of property and home sales are all public information. Many states publish them. That means that your name, address, signature, and many times, your social security number are public knowledge. It's legal and there's really nothing you can do to prevent it. There are legitimate businesses online that sell information. Their inteded purpose is to help with background checks, track people down for collection agencies, child support, skipped bail, and a whole bunch of other things. It's legal and neccessary. But for a massive fee of $49.99 you can purchase anyone's social security number. How do you prevent it? You don't. What you can do is check your credit report regularly. Go to
www.annualcreditreport.com and get your credit report. It's free once a year. You can't get your credit score for free, but that's not the important part. Get your credit report and check it thoroughly. Then call up the credit beureaus and have them put a alert on your credit report. Again, it's free, and it can save your ass. Anytime someone tries to get credit with your info, they'll call you and verify that it is really you asking for credit. If not, they'll deny the credit. Next I'll talk about some more ID theft.
Hutch
Post a Comment
I spent two days this week learning about identity theft, internet security, mortgage fraud, and personal security. Over the next few blogs, I'll share with you some of the things I've learned that I think would be helpfull to you. When it comes to ID theft, you may be startled at the information available out there. Records of property and home sales are all public information. Many states publish them. That means that your name, address, signature, and many times, your social security number are public knowledge. It's legal and there's really nothing you can do to prevent it. There are legitimate businesses online that sell information. Their inteded purpose is to help with background checks, track people down for collection agencies, child support, skipped bail, and a whole bunch of other things. It's legal and neccessary. But for a massive fee of $49.99 you can purchase anyone's social security number. How do you prevent it? You don't. What you can do is check your credit report regularly. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com and get your credit report. It's free once a year. You can't get your credit score for free, but that's not the important part. Get your credit report and check it thoroughly. Then call up the credit beureaus and have them put a alert on your credit report. Again, it's free, and it can save your ass. Anytime someone tries to get credit with your info, they'll call you and verify that it is really you asking for credit. If not, they'll deny the credit. Next I'll talk about some more ID theft.
Reader Comments