Fraud alert is a service which is offered by all the three credit reporting agencies in order to help you get protected from misuse of your identity. Whenever you find your identity stolen or has been exposed in some way or the other, the first step is to activate the fraud alert services with the bureaus. For this you need not contact all the three bureaus separately. If you activate it with any one of the bureaus, the other two bureaus will be informed automatically. All you need to do is to call any of the credit bureaus and set an initial fraud alert service.
There are various ways in which your identity can be stolen. Firstly, the identity thief can steal your credit card statement or utility bills and collect information from there and secondly, if somehow your purse is stolen, the thief can get access to important documents like your social security number or your credit card number and use there details to open a new line of credit in your name and take financial advantage. So whenever you suspect that your identity is stolen, you should set an initial fraud alert service with the bureaus.
An initial fraud alert stays in your credit report for 90 days from the date of activation and you get a free credit report from all the three bureaus. You can fill up the fraud alert form online with any of the three bureaus. On activation of the fraud alert service, you will get a call from the creditors to verify your identity whenever there is an application for a new line of credit in your name and social security number. On getting confirmation from you, the new application for credit will be processed. You can also apply for an extended fraud alert services with the bureaus only if your identity is actually stolen. For this a copy of the valid identity theft report, which you have submitted with the Federal Trade Commission, is to be submitted with the bureaus. The extended fraud alert service remains active in your report for a period of seven years.
No comments:
Post a Comment