University of Phoenix Material
Credit Protection and Identity Theft
Directions
Refer to:
Free Credit Report on the Federal Trade Commission’s site.
Identity Theft resource center on the Federal Trade Commission’s site.
Provide answers to three of the following questions based on your readings and your personal experiences. Answers should be 100-to 150-words each.
1. If you find errors on your credit report, what steps would you take to correct them?
If you find errors on your credit report, there are several steps you need to take. Under FCRA, the credit reporting company and information provider are responsible for correcting any inaccurate information on your credit report. You need to write a letter to
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3. 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?
My grand mother had her identity stolen once. We found out the elderly are a common victim of identity theft. An entire year went by before she knew her identity was stolen and the only reason she found out was because she found out she was missing money from her account each month to the point that her mortgage payment was not being paid in full each month. She was under the impression the bank took care of everything, her husband was taking care of the finances but he passed away so everything started to unravel. Once she found out she owed the bank a lot of money toward her mortgage and was very behind on payments. She never found out who did it, had to get all new cards and numbers, and is still paying for it today.
4. Using the FTC site, what can you do to minimize the chance of your identity getting stolen? There are many ways to minimize the chance of getting your identity stolen such as; keeping or shredding all documents with your name, address, any important numbers like your social security number or bank account numbers. If you need these papers, put them in a lockable fire safe. There are also web sites called “Active Duty Alerts” that can help
Some of these errors are pure compliance violations that you are not likely to spot without training. If you are going to manage your own credit repair project make sure to do your homework before getting started. Educate yourself about reporting period limits for all categories of credit, make sure you understand the operation of statute of limitations, and peruse the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The little details can make the difference between success and failure.
It might appear impossible to find quality advice on repairing your credit when you need help. We have a variety of information available to help you get started on the right track to rebuilding your credit. The tactics listed below can successfully be applied to your credit score improvement tactics.
3) If you go away on vacation have the postal service hold your mail or have a family member or friend pick it up daily.
The number of people that have experienced identity theft has been increasing rapidly. Identity theft is when one’s personal information, including social security number, credit card number or even name is stolen and is used for economic gain. A person’s identity could be taken at any time or place, and it could happen without them knowing about it. Once a person’s identity has been stolen, there are not many things they can do about it, and resolving it might take a couple months, if not years. According to “Fending Off Identity Fraud” by Danielle Britni, in 2012 alone, 16.6 million Americans were victims of some type of identity theft. In this article, the author explains multiple ways of protecting one’s identity, as well as a way of keeping
All in all, awareness is the best weapon against many forms of identity theft. Be very aware of how information is stolen and how to protect yourself, monitor your personal
Identity theft is when someone other than you, steals your personal information for illegal gains while pretending to be you. Thus, using someone else’s identity can seriously affect someone’s lively hood, business, job opportunities, and reputation,
Invest in a home safe or strong box. Use this to store any personal information in your home or at
If there are inaccuracies on the credit report, the FCRA or the Fair Credit Reporting Act will allow you to offer a dispute to get the inaccurate credit removed. After a dispute the credit reporting bureau has a specified quantity of time to corroborate the accuracy of the reporting or they will have to remove it from the account. It is prudent to get any inaccuracies removed from your credit report as you are trying to restructure credit.
To begin, this is a reliable source to use for my research project, because the author is a former assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigation Division. First, Chris Swecker explains some reasons how identity thefts can steal your identity, and why. Swecker explains how identity theft is one of many major crimes in the twenty-first century. Next, Chris states that identity theft has become an issue regarding
Dr. Deming, identity theft is when someone steals your personal information such as your social security number or name (Brown, DeHayes, Hoffer, Martin & Perkins, 2012). Once the theft obtains one’s information, one uses it to create a fraudulent documents such as credit applications, income taxes, and other items. These actions can damage your credit and it cost one money and time to restore their name to good status. There are different type of identity theft that can occur. Those are: child, tax, medical, senior, or social theft (Kess, Grimaldi, Revels, 2017). When clearing your name of identity theft, one must contact each vendor where fraudulent activity has occurred. Also, one must report it to the proper law enforcement and the federal
You should read and understand the Credit Repair Organizations Act, which contains a number of provisions that protect your consumer rights and help you to tell if a company is being unfair or even fraudulent. For example, the Credit Repair Organizations Act states that a credit repair group cannot charge you up front, and must perform the services outlined in the contract before they can extract their payment from you. The Credit Repair Organizations Act also states that the contract must specify the entire fee for the service, and give a detailed description of the services that are to be rendered. It also allows you to cancel your contract without penalty or obligation as long as you do so within three business days from the initial
There are several easy methods thieves can use to steal your identity. One common way thieves can steal your identity is by stealing credit card offers out of your mail box. Credit card companies send heaps of pre approved credit offers. Thieves can simply steal the letter from your mailbox, go back to their own home and provide the information on the letter to the credit card company. The address given for statements will be the address of the burglar. Therefore, most people do not realize a credit card has been opened in their name until the delinquent balance reaches their credit report. Additionally, identity thieves have also been known to rummage through garbage to find credit card offers or other personal documents with identifying information.
But how do they work? A good credit repair company works off of government legislature to fairly represent you to the credit reporting bureaus. To ease some of your curiosity, their strategy involves them using, on your behalf, the Fair Credit Billing Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. True knowledge and understanding of all these pieces of legislation gives us the ability and the confidence to legally challenge items in your credit reports. Each one of these acts can be viewed at: www.ftc.gov. You may also be asking how long it takes to see results. Once you receive your credit reports from all 3 credit bureaus, a good credit repair company will aggressively remove the negative debt from your credit report. By law, the credit agencies must respond to your dispute letters within 30 days from the actual dispute claim, and you should definitely see results on your credit file within 30-45
Technology runs our world. However, through the abundance of information that it contains, a new crim knon as identity theft can easily take place. According to a recent study 27 million Americans have been a victim of idenity theft since 1999. Unfortunately, that number increases every year. Idenity theft can occure as a result of new lines of credit being opened, phone fraud, or employment related fraud. Pre-paid legal services is a legal industry that has teamed with Kroll Inc. to help victims of Idenity fraud. Their system help alert you of any suspicious activity on your credit. So in other words, they help stop the thief before your idenity is stolen. People can also protect their idenity by checking their credit reports regularly and
One of the major downfalls of identity theft is the fact that, in most cases, it takes the victim a large amount of time before noticing there has been a robbery. The best way to keep an eye on your identity is too closely monitor your credit report on a monthly basis. For example, the report will advise you of your credit score. If there has been a major change, you should investigate further to find out why there has been a change in your credit rating. Additionally, paying close attention to your monthly bank statements and credit card statements will warn you if there have been any charges completed that you were not aware of. A faster way to manage the review of your statements would be to view them online on a daily or weekly basis to