Your Credit Questions and Answers

 How people steal your identity.   Your Name, Social Security Number, and Address are all that an identity thief needs to steal your identity.  If they have one of your passwords, phone number, or email that is just a bonus for them . One in One Hundred   If you know 100 people it is likely one of them will get their identity stolen this year.  It can take you years to get the problems you will have fixed if your Identity is stolen. There are a lot of black websites that will store your name, address, and Social Security number.  They might have your phone number and email address also.  Identity Thieves will continuously contact you any way they can to try to get you to sign into their fake website.  Often they will pretend to be your bank like Wells Fargo or Chase or Amazon to get your password.   Once they have access to any account they will try to steal from you.  Sometimes they will open up new accounts or other...

I have four different Free ways to be notified of a new account being opened in my name on my Social Security number.  This is the critical notification that your Identity is being stolen if you did not just open a new credit line. My Discover card, Credit Karma, Chase Bank, and Credit Sesame accounts all notify me if there has been a new account opened in my name with my Social Security number.   New Credit Account I recently opened a new Home Depot* credit card.  You know those Black Friday tool sales sucked me in again.  I do it almost every year.   Anyway right on time the next day and the day after I opened a new account I was notified by Credit Karma, Discover, Chase Bank, and Credit Sessame. Why This is Important Any time your credit is checked you need to be notified.  If you did not apply for new credit it is likely to mean someone is attempting to STEAL Your Identity.   The first step in Identity Theft is for the thief to apply...

Three Steps to Identity Theft If someone attempts to steal my identity they will do at least these three things. They will: Get my Social Security Number Change my mailing address to their address Apply for a new credit card or loan with my name Closely Track New Credit Applications If the Thief has gotten my social security number and applied for new credit this will show up on my credit history. By closely tracking the credit applications made with my SS number I will know right away if my Identity is being stolen. Credit Karma Monitoring is Free With Credit Karma monitoring, any time new credit is applied for Credit Karma emails me with a notification. I check my credit and my email regularly. My Stolen Credit Card Monitoring If the thief has stolen my credit card number and used it I will get an email from my credit card company that my card was used. I have my credit cards set up so any charge creates an email to me. You can setup a separate email account just for credit card pu...

I use Credit Karma notifications to monitor my credit. I signed up for Credit Karma a long time ago. It is free. I am Monitoring my Credit to fight Identity Theft I gave them my name, address,  email, phone number, and social security number. They are able to contact two of the three credit bureaus, Equifax and Transunion, and check my credit history with them. They are able to check my credit with a soft credit check.  Credit Karma Notifications Once you have a Credit Karma account, you can set up notifications. This is very simple to do. Open Credit Karma go to the menu on the top right. Go down to "Communications and Monitoring". Scroll down. I authorized ID Monitoring, Account Monitoring, Credit Monitoring, and ignored the rest. I average checking Credit Karma every week or two. Credit Karma will email you with any significant changes to your credit score and any new credit applications on your account. Freezing Your Credit  If you do not plan on openi...