Tina L Douglas asked:

There are a lot of reasons why your credit rating will be very low. There could be errors on your credit report or you have been a victim of identity theft. For whatever reason, it is important that you monitor your credit score so that you will not be shocked and frustrated when you apply for credit and you get denied.

If, for some unforeseen circumstances, your credit report reflects inconsistencies, don’t worry. You can dispute these wrong pieces of information and fix your credit score in a jiffy. Here are some three simple steps on how you can fix your credit card report.

Step Number One: Request for your credit report.

If you really need to find out if there are really errors in your credit report, then you need to have a copy of this very important financial document. This is not a very big hassle, you can do it online for your convenience as the three credit bureaus have their own online counterparts. The law provides that you can request for one credit report annually from each of the three credit bureaus. But you can also request for your reports via phone, email and there is also another option to have it downloaded directly. Also you can request free credit reports online from credit monitoring services through their free trial membership program.

Monitoring your credit report is important in maintaining the integrity of your credit status. This will ensure that no other person/s are using your personal information for their identity theft and malicious activities.

Step Number Two: Scrutinize and review your credit report carefully.

Some people find it hard to read credit reports. If you don’t know what you are looking for, that might be very hard. The report often starts with your personal details and you also have to make sure that all your details indicated therein are all true and no consistencies exist.

Then you can proceed to check the trade lines which are the overview or summary of your credit accounts as well as all transactions that you’ve done with these accounts. It would reflect your payment history as well as the amount that you still owe. This is where you should be very careful because if an identity theft criminal, for instance, opened a new account under your name, this is where it will be reflected.

Step Number Three:

The final step that you have to do is to write a dispute letter addressed to the credit bureau. If you are not sure on how you should write your letter, you can search for a sample of a dispute letter online. You should attach any documentation, receipt or any evidence that you might need to establish that you should not be held liable for the inconsistency that is reflected in your credit report. Once you have written your dispute letter, the recipient will then have 30 days to respond to your application and remove any disputes if in any case, they are able to establish that the accounts posted on your credit report is not yours.

Derek

Marc Marseille asked:




Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America. The effects of identity theft can be a very hurtful experience that mostly occurs during the important moments of your life. Many victims of identity theft do not even realize that someone or in some cases several people have been violating them by getting access to their personal credit bureau report. Protecting your credit bureau report can easily be achieved by getting a copy of your free triple score from all three credit bureaus.

Your free triple score report will provide you with all the information you have reporting with all three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union. Once you have received your credit bureau report, it is crucial that you do a thorough investigation to make sure that all your information is reporting correctly. If you find that you have been a victim of identity fraud, the best thing to do in that situation is to seek professional legal help through a reputable credit attorney.

It is unfortunate if you find yourself dealing with the situation of having your identity stolen, but there several steps you can take to prevent identity theft before it happens. The first step is to arm yourself with identity protection. Many credit card companies offer identity protection through a small monthly fee on your credit card, but if you have several credit cards, you may want to consider getting a more universal identity protection policy. Getting a universal identity protection policy includes using a company that works hand in hand with the 3 credit bureaus to create a lock on your credit bureau report.

Once you’ve create a lock on your credit report, no one can make any purchases using your information without having to verify some very vital information. To secure yourself even further, it is important to shred all important personal information before disposing of them. Information that should be shredded is bank statements, credit card statements, and anything that shows your Social Security Number.

Another precaution you can take is to never give your Social Security Number over the internet through an unsecured server. One way to find out if the website you are viewing is insecure is by looking at your browser window. All secure internet websites start with https: and not just http:. To make it even safer to surf the internet, you should get virus protection, spyware and a reliable internet explorer like Firefox.

My last recommendation to protection your free triple score report sounds simple enough, but a lot of people fall victim to it everyday; you should never give your Social Security Number over the telephone to a company you do not trust. Unless you have a long lasting relationship with a certain company, it is better to deal in person. If you must give sensitive information over the phone such as banking, try to establish a relationship with one particular individual in that department before you do so.

Cynthia