Credit Protection and Identity Theft Essay Example for Free

Credit Protection and Identity Theft Essay If you find errors on your credit report, what steps would you take to correct them? Steps we can take include writing to the credit reporting company describing what we feel is inaccurate on our credit. If we do this the agency must investigate the claim. After the investigation is complete they will send us written results with a copy of our credit report if any changes had been made. Another way we can try and correct information is by contacting and disputing any information directly with the lender. If a lender does not resolve our problem then we can request that the lender attach a statement about the dispute for every time they report the credit agency. There are many organizations that claim they will repair your credit for a fee. From your readings, should someone use a credit repair service? Why or why not? What are some actions these organizations can take that should be a red flag? Have you, a family member, or a friend been a victim of identity theft? How did it happen? Describe the resolution process- ex. how much time did it take, what credit damage was corrected? I have never been a victim of identity theft nor do I know anybody who has. From what I have read the resolution process can be long and painful mentally and physically. It could also take a very long time as in years if not caught in time. We would have to contact lenders and close out and dispute anything that was not of our knowledge. I believe then an investigation will start and if the person is ever caught then they can begin on recovering your credit and removing whatever credit was used without your knowledge. Any credit we knowingly used is still our responsibility to repay. Using the FTC site, what can you do to minimize the chance of your identity getting stolen? According to the website we should keep record of our account numbers and phone numbers to contact the lender in case we feel fraud or an inaccuracy has occurred. We should shred any receipts and documents that contain important information that we plan on throwing away. A smart thing to do would be to carry some cards separate from our wallet in case our wallet gets lost. We should check our bills often and compare receipts to our statements to make sure they match and no errors occur. If we move we need to notify the lender of this so someone else doesnt get our mail and can possibly steal any sensitive information contained in the bill.