Identity theft is among many other online vices that occur online. Hackers are always looking for an opportunity to steal people’s details such as their social security number, address and date of birth for personal gain. However, you can get help to prevent such from happening to you. Today, credit monitoring can protect against fraud and ensure the safety of your personal information.
Criminals stealing information from other people use it to open new accounts for their gain. Mostly, they use it to apply for loans using your details. In addition, they may also do the same to get access to your online credit card portal and bank accounts. Therefore, identity theft is a worrying trend that has caused huge pain and loss to many people.
Using Credit Monitoring Services
Protection against identity theft can happen through credit monitoring services. These services get hold of your credit reports for every activity. They do this to alert you of these activities before accepting effecting them. For instance, your credit reports may show that you have made a new credit card account application. In this case, a credit monitoring service will send an alert to confirm whether you made the action.
Credit monitoring services alert you on any activity involving your details. This happens regardless of whether you did it or not. That way, you can tell whether someone stole your details or not. If you did not initiate the opening of a new account, then it could be a scammer using your personal information to their advantage.
To get the services of credit monitoring firms, you will part with some money charged as fees for the help you will get. However, this comes with various benefits. Most importantly, you can study all credit reports in your accounts by yourself. That way, you can tell whether there are suspicious activities or not.
Paying to use credit-monitoring services is worth it. It can save you huge losses should anyone create an account using your personal information. Before you know it, the scammer may have made big purchases on your account.
Personal and Financial Information from Credit Reports
There is a lot that goes around credit monitoring services. Most importantly, they revolve around your credit reports. You can get these reports through the national credit bureaus namely: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. These agencies have separate credit reports for everyone capturing both personal and financial information.
Credit reports include your full details such as name, address and social security number as your personal information. On the other hand, they contain financial details including open accounts and associated loans. They also have details to do with your payment history, collections, foreclosures, hard credit inquiries and bankruptcy filings.
To get your credit report, you can get a free copy from these agencies via AnnualCreditReport.com. As you study these reports, you can tell any suspicious activity on your accounts. There are details of all your loan applications. Therefore, if there is any that you did not apply, you can tell from the reports. Such information is a sign that someone has compromised your personal information.
How Credit Monitoring Works
When you cannot afford to do this on your own, then credit-monitoring services could be your best option. A credit monitoring service tracks the reports on your behalf. Whenever someone initiates a new credit card or loan account opening, the service will alert you. If it is you taking such action, then there is nothing to worry about it. However, should move with speed to prevent further action of a suspicious activity that you have not initiated.
With credit monitoring services, you get instant alerts and that way, you can react faster. Therefore, it is not enough to monitor your credit reports. Identity theft happens in many ways such as stealing information from medical reports, tax records or even through criminal activity. In that case, spotting these malpractices may not happen through credit monitoring.
Final Thoughts
You can protect yourself from identity theft by constantly studying your credit reports. However, if you cannot keep up with this effort, then the services of a credit-monitoring agency may come in handy. They will do the job for you and instantly tell of any suspicious activity on your accounts.
