Tip of the Month-Janaury 2008

Fraud Tip of The Month
 
DID YOU ORDER A FREE COPY OF YOUR CREDIT REPORT YET?
 
From Detective Jim Littlefield
Pendleton Police Department
January 7, 2008
 
The holidays are a special time for families. Unfortunately, it’s also a busy time for those persons who deserve a lump of coal (or worse) in their stockings - “Identity Thieves.” 
 
In an average year, about 10 million Americans become the victims of Identity Theft, and 400,000 of them are children. At any time of the year, there are about 3.6 million active victims, and many don’t even know they are victims. Are you or your children among them? 
 
How about making a New Year’s Resolution that you’re going to take an important step to protect yourself and your family from these bad guys in 2008? GET YOUR FREE YEARLY CREDIT REPORT! It’s simple, and it’s FREE.
 
FREE CREDIT REPORT: 
 
v      Thanks to your Federal Legislators,
 
Ø      The Fair & Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) was signed into law in December 2003. The FACT Act, a revision of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, allows consumers to get one free comprehensive disclosure (credit report) from each of the three national credit reporting companies, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian once every 12 months through a Central Source.
Ø      The FACT Act required the national credit reporting companies to establish a Central Source through which a person may request their free annual credit report.
Ø      The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates the program.
Ø      You and your children are entitled to a free credit report each year. 
 
v      To Request Your Report by Phone, Call 1-877-322-8228
 
v      To Request Your Report Online
 
Ø      Go to the website, www.annualcreditreport.com. This is the only FTC sponsored website to get your statutory free credit report. There’s lots of good information on this site also. 
§         Important: There are other websites and companies that will offer a free credit report, but they are trying to sell you something in return.
§         Tip: You are entitled to receive one free credit report through the Central Source every 12 months from each one of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies; Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. However, you do not have to order from all three at the same time. So, if you order from only one company today you can still order from the other two companies at a later date. I would suggest that you spread out the reports over the year, so you are monitoring your credit history, allowing you to check for changes or suspicious activity all year long.    
For example: January – Equifax    May – TransUnion    September- Experian 
 
v      To Request Your Report By Mail
Ø      Go to www.annualcreditreport.com and download the request form from the website. 
Ø      Mail the completed form to:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281