| By :
Liz Roberts
Copyright (c) 2010 Liz Roberts Do you want to secure your credit against identity theft? Consumers are interested to know how they can protect their credit from identity thieves and scammers. Experts recommend a credit freeze. What is a credit freeze? How is it done and is it really efficient? to answer these questions, read the following paragraphs and learn tips on how you can fight ID theft. When a credit freeze is done, it blocks all new creditors, insurers, employers and the credit report owner himself from viewing or accessing his credit report. When a credit report is "on freeze", no credit inquiry is possible or allowed. How does this protect you from stolen identity? Identity thieves use stolen personal information in opening new accounts. As an example, a thief can try to open a new credit card account using your name and from there, he/she can start making huge purchases for you to pay. Identity thieves can easily open a credit card account. When the credit card company looks in to your credit report and found that you are a good candidate for credit, the new credit card will be issued right away. However, when your credit report is frozen, the credit card company will not be able to check into your credit report and thus can't proceed in opening the new account. But what if you really want to open a new loan or get a new credit card. You would first need to "unfreeze" your credit report before even submitting your application. This way, when your prospective creditor makes an inquiry about your credit history, your creditor will not be denied. To "unfreeze" your credit report, you have to get the PIN code provided by the bureau who has your credit report. Freezing Your Credit How do you avail of a credit freeze? Credit freeze is being offered by all the three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion). One can ask for a freeze by sending in his letter of request, enclosed with 2 proofs of residency. You may use a copy of your driver's license or a billing statement addressed to your name. Once a credit is put on a freeze, it will be permanent until the credit report owner requests for the freeze to be lifted. If you want to "freeze" and "unfreeze" your credit, you will have to pay each bureau a certain amount ($10 to $12). Safeguard Your Identity Although a credit freeze can protect your report from unwanted inquiries or attempts to open fraudulent accounts, it cannot protect you from all types of schemes resulting from stolen identity. Thus, we should all be vigilant in protecting our personal information. Here are some tips: * Shred all documents that contains any type of personal information before discarding them. (Ex. ATM receipts, banking statements, expired credit cards, old IDs, etc.) * Keep all your important documents in a safe storage. * Ask your credit card issuer for an online credit card number that you can use when shopping from the web. * Check the status of bank account regularly. * Avail of fraud protection service provided by your credit card. * To get in touch with a human customer service from any of the three credit bureaus, visit gethuman.com for a list of contact numbers.
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