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There is no doubt that Identity Theft is scary. Just imagine, a criminal can steal your identity, open new loan and credit accounts in your name, clean out your savings, ruin your credit history, and leave you seriously in debt, owing banks and credit card companies tens of thousands of dollars. This sounds like a nightmare, except that it is real, and it has happened to many. It is estimated that there are anywhere between 7 Million and 15 Million Identity Theft victims annually.

Wouldn’t it make sense if banks and credit card companies were required to contact you at a secure telephone number prior to issuing any new loans or credit cards in your name? Absolutely!!! That way, you can be assured that no loans are approved in your name without your own approval. There are some companies out there that are offering Identity Theft protection tools that essentially revolve around such idea, and are charging around $100 per year for such service. Guess what, this idea is nothing new, and it is known as Fraud Alerts. It has been mandated as your right under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, and best of all, Fraud Alerts is free!
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Technorati Tags: identity theft, identity fraud, identity theft protection,  Fraud Alerts, FACTA 

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Blog www.CreditLock.com_Home Identity_Theft Credit_Freeze Credit_Monitoring Credit_Reports Do_Not_Call_List FAQ About_Us Privacy_Policy Members

Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA), passed by the U.S. Congress on December 4, 2003 (link available at end of article), consumers were granted the ability to place Fraud Alerts on their credit files. Such Fraud Alerts are an important tool in fighting Identity Theft.

Unfortunately, there have been some common misperceptions about such Fraud Alerts. We examined FACTA’s Title 1, “Identity Theft Prevention and Credit History Restoration”, sections 112 to 115, in order to clarify three common misperceptions: A- whether or not the Act requires that consumers with Fraud Alerts on their file to be contacted prior to issuance of new credit, or extension of existing credit B- how consumers can place Fraud Alerts and whether they need to pay for Fraud Alerts C- whether or not Fraud Alerts prevent the issuance of new credit, or extension of existing credit.More…

Technorati Tags: identity theft, identity fraud, identity theft protection,  fraud alerts, credit report, FACTA, Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act,

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