Credit Monitoring to Prevent ID Theft
Financial tools like credit monitoring aids that could help in early detection of identity theft allow you to quickly respond to suspicious changes in your credit. The rise of identity theft has also sparked interest in credit monitoring services. In reality, monitoring services only help you prevent identity theft after something out of the ordinary has happened with your credit file, e.g. a balance has risen unexpectedly or an inquiry has been placed on your report.
These services range from $50 to $180 a year depending on what’s being monitored (your credit score vs. all three credit reports) and who’s providing the report. Is the benefit worth the price tag?
A False Sense of Security. Signing up for a credit monitoring service doesn’t completely protect you. When you sign up for a credit bureau’s monitoring service, you’ll only be alerted to changes in your credit report with that bureau. If an identity thief opens an account with a bank that doesn’t report to that bureau, you may not find out until debt collectors start calling you. Even 3-in-1 credit monitoring isn’t foolproof because a thief can open accounts in your name that don’t require credit checks and aren’t reported to the credit bureaus. You might not be notified if the thief uses your social security number with a different name. Credit bureaus don’t link together accounts with the same social security number and different names.
Delays in business reporting to the credit bureaus also delay the time you receive a fraud notification.
Should You Pay For Credit Monitoring? In general, you don’t need credit monitoring. You’re better off putting that money toward your debt. Sure, it might only make a dent in your debt, but every little bit counts. There may be some situations that you might spend the money for credit monitoring. If you’re going through a credit repair process, it can be cheaper to monitor your credit score through a service rather than ordering your credit score every month. Watching your credit score lets you know if what you’re doing for your credit is actually helping.
A credit monitoring service can help you keep an eye on your credit after your social security number has been stolen and the thief is opening accounts in your name. Keep in mind, however, even in this situation, there may be less expensive and even free alternatives like freezing your credit report or putting a fraud alert on your credit report.
Identity Theft Specialists
The specialists in identity theft can use a variety of methods to access our personal information. For example, getting them can get their information from businesses or other institutions while they are at work, bribing an employee who has access to records, hacking these records and lying to employees for information.
If an identity thief opening new credit accounts in your name, it is likely that these accounts appear on your credit report. You can find out by requesting a copy of your credit report to each of the reporting companies nationwide consumer. If you have lost or had stolen some personal information, you may want to check all your reports more frequently during the first year.
Examine the financial account balances. Control them to check if you have been charged unexplained charges or withdrawals. Other indicators of identity theft can be:
- Not receiving bills or other mail, which could mean an identity thief a change of address.
- To receive credit cards you did not apply.
- Denial of credit for no apparent reason.
- Receive calls from debt collectors or companies about merchandise or services you did not buy.
