It’s amazing to me how quickly we’ve changed our habits to leverage new technologies that make our financial lives so much easier. Yet even as we speed along in this great new direction, there are other habits we need to rethink in order to be safe on our journey. Specifically, we need to unlearn certain old behaviors and adopt some new ones in order to protect ourselves from technology’s biggest unintended consequence—identity theft.
The first step is simply to acknowledge that the bad guys are looking for the smallest opening to crack our network of personal and financial information. Once they get in, they can inflict personal and financial agony that can last for months or even years.
The next step is to take action. If you aren’t sure how to safeguard your personal information (and believe me, there are many precautions that aren’t so obvious), please visit our friends at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. There, you will find excellent documentation on protecting yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft.
One thing you can do today is order a free credit report from one of three agencies—TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian (use the link on the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse website to begin the process).
In case you don’t know, the law says you can order a free credit report once a year. That’s good news, but it gets even better—you can check your credit three times a year for free. Pick any one of the three agencies listed above and order your report today. In four months, order from a different agency, and four months after that order from the third agency. A year from today, start the process over.
If outdated or incorrect information appears on the report, you may ask that it be removed (again, no charge). Read the disclaimer at the end of your report for instructions.
I like to save the report as a PDF instead of printing it out, just to save myself the trouble of shredding all those pages later on.
Two words of warning
1. Be aware that credit report companies that advertise on TV are not free, even though some use that word in their name. They are not the same company recommended by Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
2. Be aware that the three credit reporting agencies may try to sell you something (like your credit rating number). Feel free to say NO. Also, you may need to use a checkbox that prevents the company from sharing your “non-personal information” with other companies (i.e., people who will send you spam and junk mail). Just remember it’s easy to overlook that checkbox.
And finally
The first time I checked my credit report I was blown away by how much outdated, incorrect info there was. NO, I don’t still have that credit card. NO, I don’t have that mortgage. NO, I don’t still work there. I objected and they removed the garbage. Also, you need to know each agency is likely to have slightly information on you, so watch closely.
