When you think about that millions of individuals have had their identities stolen over the past decade, it is easy to see why that you might be interested in protecting your credit file in order to shield your sensitive financial information from the first signs of identity theft.
In the past, it was sufficient to check your credit reports once every year or two but now-a-days, basic credit report auditing isn’t enough to keep your information secure. You should understand what’s happening 24/7 with your credit history. This is where credit monitoring comes into play and can be a crucial tool to fight id fraud.
People in all walks of life count on credit monitoring, in fact the New York Times cited an increase of more than 22% in 2011 for identity theft reports. With this type of rampant rise, the need to protect your credit ratings can not be overemphasized.
According to one finance expert, banks have begun providing enhanced identity theft protection services that usually include credit score tracking, public records database tracking, as well as tax reimbursement scams. We want to help you decide which service is best for you.
The Top Rated Programs Should Cover The Following
- Identity theft fraud security – First and foremost, credit monitoring services should help you secure your identity with daily, real time alerts. You should be able to see exactly what’s being done by someone else in your name and take suitable action.
- Account notifications – All monitoring programs should provide consumers with relevant information on all of their bank accounts for transparency.
- Instant Updates – Anything from a name or address modification to a lending institution’s inquiry can affect your credit information, and credit monitoring should update you to any changes instantly.
- 3 credit scores – You should get monthly access to thorough credit information from all 3 of the huge credit agencies, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax.
- Unauthorized user updates – Remember that old roommate from college that left after half a semester? Don’t let them come back to haunt you. If you ever shared a mailing address with someone other than your spouse, you should be monitoring your credit. Unsolicited credit card offers can be sent up to 10 years after you vacated a previous address.
- Guidance On Normal Changes – Assessing the your credit reports helps your see all activities and changes, leading to a more efficient management of your credit file. A credit monitoring service could likewise detect things you may think are fraudulent but are not.
- Educational Tools – Customers should be able to utilize tools to help them appraise their credit standing, to determine trouble areas, and how to deal with those issues.
- Strategic planning – Individuals who routinely check their credit scores should be educated enough to project where they’ll be economically in the future. This could help customers figure out whether they should focus on checking debt, retirement savings, or applying for a new mortgage.
- Credit Worthy Citation – Consumers should be able to demonstrate their ability to invest and manage their finances responsibly with their monthly monitoring reports. These can help when meeting with your mortgage lender, bank or opening up a new line of credit.
- Total peace of mind – Understanding that you have some protection in place to prevent scams and id fraud should help your relax and sleep well at night. Knowing that you have a professional resource to fight back is powerful.
Ways To Ensure You Select The Right Level Of Protection
Each free credit monitoring service differs in the depth of coverage they offer. Beyond the basics, you should ask yourself these concerns when contrasting the different programs and see which make the most sense score-wise…
Does this service monitor my old, inactive accounts? Like we said, old physical addresses and PO box’s can put you are risk.
How often are my three bureau credit scores updated and accessible?
Will my public records be watched?
Are they smart phone accessible?
Watching your credit report for unauthorized changes is crucial. Address changes is a prime path for id thieves to try and hijack your accounts.
When you stay on top of your physical address info, you will have peace of mind about your credit file and any attempts to steal it.
Remember, identity thieves can attach themselves to your clean credit history in a dizzying number of ways these days. Free credit monitoring is all over the news these days for this very reason. With a professional monitoring service in place, you can see that taking place and reduce the amount of damage inflicted on your file and help you as a type of credit retainer securely.
If you’re not already making use of credit monitoring program to keep track of your credit rating, signup now and understand exactly what’s happening with your personal info.