Investigating Identity Theft By Checking Your Credit Report - By: Suzy Vanstrusen

Have you been denied credit by a lender because of your poor standing as a borrower? Do you receive phone calls from credit card companies notifying you about unpaid balances in your account? Are you left puzzled by these circumstances knowing that you've never made such charges and that you've always been a good borrower? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may have been a victim of identity theft.

Protect Yourself from ID Theft

ID thieves can open new accounts in your name or charge large bills in your credit cards without your slightest knowledge. They can be maximizing your credit line or going beyond your credit limit and you're not even aware of it until creditors start to call you about past due balances. Yes, it can take awhile before you even realize that other people have been using your account against you.

What can you do? How can you avoid such a situation? Is there a way to protect yourself against identity theft? Checking credit report every six months is a precaution that all consumers must take seriously. In fact, the Fair Credit Report Act mandates all three credit reporting agencies to provide an identity theft free credit report score once each year. How can checking your credit report help in preventing identity theft? To better understand, let's review what types of information are contained in your credit report.

Your Free Credit Repair Guide

Your credit report is divided into four categories- personal identity section, credit history, public records and inquiries. Carefully examining the information listed under each section is crucial in making sure that you report is precise and up-to-date.

Hints or information on whether you're identity is being illegally used are reflected in the credit history section of your report. All your charges, debts and unpaid dues with all your creditors are recorded here. Aside from your balances, the types of your accounts, the date you've opened them, your credit limit and of course, your payments are all listed here. Obviously, if someone is charging credit in your account without your consent, you can be alerted right away once you've seen your credit report.

If your credit card is being charged with a larger amount than you can remember from your usage, you should call your bank immediately and advise them that there are unauthorized charges made in your account. Ask them to put your credit card in a freeze to prevent thieves from doing more damage to your credit.

After calling your bank, don't forget to write a dispute letter explaining your situation and send this to your creditor and to the credit bureau who issued your credit report through a registered post mail. Enclose copies of documents that support your claim. However, keep in mind to never send the original copies of your receipts or bills. Keep these important documents as reference.

The last part of your credit report is the inquiry section where you can keep track of possible fraud or identity theft. In this section, you can find all the inquiries made by prospective creditors that you have submitted an application to. The next thing you should do after noticing an inquiry from a creditor whom you have never submitted an application to is to call the creditor and investigate on the matter.

Copyright (c) 2010 Suzy Vanstrusen

About the Author

For people who want to learn how to repair their own credit, Suzy Vanstrusen, a credit analyst and a writer of EzCreditRepairSolutions.com has been providing consumers with tips and tricks in repairing your credit. Check the site for more free credit repair and credit report score .

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