Fraud Alerts, Your Credit Score & Identity Theft
If you are like many men and women, you have an understandable concern in regard to identity theft. Statistics prove that you are likely to become the victim of identity theft at least one time during your lifetime. In fact, when you really consider how common identity theft actually is, odds are that you will become a victim of identity theft once every ten years. Understanding how common identity theft is, you must realize how it can impact your life and your finances, including your credit score.
If you discover that you have become the victim of identity theft, one of the first things that you will want to do is to make contact with each of the three major credit reporting agencies. These agencies make it fairly easy for you to report the fact that you have become the victim of identity theft. These agencies maintain special toll free numbers and dedicated portals on the Internet and World Wide Web through which you can report that you have become the victim of identity theft.
Once placed on your account, a fraud alert will flag any activity. In other words, even if an inquiry is made to the credit reporting agency about you, you will be notified immediately. This is very helpful to you when you are fighting identity theft and working to prevent your credit score from being damaged or harmed because of identity theft.
You may be wondering whether there is a charge to have a fraud alert placed on your credit report and your associated credit score. The fact is that the credit reporting agencies do not charge you anything for placing an alert on your credit report and your credit score.
There are identity theft protection agencies in business today that can assist you in undertaking these types of steps to protect your credit report and your credit score. These services do charge a fee for their assistance.
Finally, when it comes to the issue of identity theft, a fraud alert, your credit report and your credit score, you need to keep in mind that these alerts do not stay in place forever. Therefore, you need to make sure that you remain in contact with the credit reporting agency in order to keep the fraud alert in place for as long as is necessary. It is important that you do not release the fraud alert in a premature fashion.
Author and internet entrepreneur Bernard Pragides offers expert advice and tips regarding identity theft. Learn more about identity theft and fraud by visiting his identity theft blog at http://www.LifeLockBlog.com.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Fraud Alerts, Your Credit Score & Identity Theft