Can Consumers Fight Back Against Credit Fraud?
Sunday, January 6th, 2008Sometimes I long for the days of old, the days when we could trust the people we deal with and never question their integrity. Unfortunately, if we choose to use the internet consistently, we must be prepared to be extremely careful when we deal with anyone. When it comes to protecting our credit, we must be even more careful than ever. In this age of information, credit fraud is not a difficult crime to perpetrate. The idea that a thief could gain access to your account information or personal data is not as implausible as you might think–social security number misuse has increased over the last two years, resulting in a variety of credit-related crimes.
Fortunately, you can fight back against credit fraud by learning how credit fraud and identity theft occur, and by actively monitoring your credit report for unauthorized account use on a regular basis. Your credit report will list any new activity on accounts you haven’t been using, as well as new accounts that you did not open.