Free Identity Theft Protection

There’s only one you. Let’s keep it that way. Whether you’re online or out in the world, we want you to be who you are, confidently and comfortably. That means knowing you have your very own identity protection — free of worry, free of charge. That’s the idea behind TrueIdentity.

With TrueIdentity 100% Free Identity Protection, you’re in control, in the know and informed wherever life takes you. Worried your TransUnion credit report might be at risk, Lock it on your phone with a swipe and it stays locked until you unlock it with another swipe. Someone applying for credit in your name, We send you an email, phone notification or text (your choice) the instant we find out. Anxious to find out anytime there’s a critical change to your TransUnion credit information, Don’t worry, we’ll email you so you can log in, refresh in seconds and see the latest.

What if the amount is more than I can afford, Don’t sign up for a DMP if you can’t afford the monthly payment. How often can I get status reports on my accounts, Can I get access to my accounts online or by phone, Make sure that the organization you sign up with is willing to provide regular, detailed statements about your account. Can you get my creditors to lower or eliminate interest and finance charges, or waive late fees,

If yes, contact your creditors to verify this, and ask them how long you have to be on the plan before the benefits kick in. What debts aren’t included in the DMP, This is important because you’ll have to pay those bills on your own. Do I have to make any payments to my creditors before they will accept the proposed payment plan, Some creditors require a payment to the credit counselor before accepting you into a DMP.

If a credit counselor tells you this is so, call your creditors to verify this information before you send money to the credit counseling agency. How will enrolling in a DMP affect my credit, Beware of any organization that tells you it can remove accurate negative information from your credit report. Legally, it can’t be done.

Accurate negative information may stay on your credit report for up to seven years. Can you get my creditors to “re-age” my accounts — that is, to make my accounts current, If so, how many payments will I have to make before my creditors will do so, Even if your accounts are “re-aged,” negative information from past delinquencies or late payments will remain on your credit report.

The following steps will help you benefit from a DMP, and avoid falling further into debt. Continue to pay your bills until the plan has been approved by your creditors. If you stop making payments before your creditors have accepted you into a plan, you’ll face late fees, penalties, and negative entries on your credit report.

Contact your creditors and confirm that they have accepted the proposed plan before you send any payments to the credit counseling organization for your DMP. Make sure the organization’s payment schedule allows your debts to be paid before they are due each month. Paying on time will help you avoid late fees and penalties. Call each of your creditors on the first of every month to make sure the agency has paid them on time.

With online commerce growing everyday, using credit cards is the easiest and most convenient mode of online payment. And during the early years of online transactions, the use of credit cards has spawned a new breed of criminals that have made a living at the expense of these credit card owners. It's now more commonly known as Identity Theft. The new crime emerging in the last years of the 20th century and is only now being recognized for the damage it can do to many unsuspecting credit card holders.

Identity theft is basically a crime of stealing personal data for personal gain. Credit card numbers, bank account numbers, Social Security numbers and PIN are the most common personal data that can get you into trouble once stolen or lost. And of these, Credit card numbers are the easiest. There are basically three ways that credit card data can fall into unscrupulous hands. Firstly, thieves can just take note of your credit card number when you use them in merchant stores.

Every card holder is vulnerable. Even when paying for your meals in a restaurant can be risky. You'll never know if the waitress or cashier is in cahoots with some syndicate preying on unwary customers paying with their cards. Secondly, thieves can hack into unsecured online transactions to capture not only your card information but also the other personal data typically required to effect an online payment for card verification. Telephone purchases can also be eavesdropped to surreptitiously obtain such information.

Lastly, lost and stolen credit cards find their way in the hands of unscrupulous people who find the window between the time they are lost and the time the card is reported. So what Do We Do About It, There is only so much a credit card user can do to minimize the risk of falling victim to Identity Theft. Credit cards in themselves have very low security features against fraud.

Those holograph symbols are there to prevent fraudulent duplication of the card. But the card itself is not necessary to make fraudulent transactions. Bear in mind that many merchants accept "Not Present Credit Purchases", so there is no need for the physical credit card or the person owning it for a purchase to take place. For online transactions, most reputable online merchants are using security encryption schemes to protect its customers. Online customers are now advised to refrain from making such payments on the net on merchant sites that do not use such schemes.

And there are secure payment sites like PayPal and other payment bureaus that use encryption methods that make it increasingly difficult for online hackers to steal your credit card and personal data. The FBI and the US Postal Inspection Services are the government agencies tasked with combating credit frauds. 5000 and above. The bureaus are constrained by limited resources to pursue all criminals. The best way to do for us consumers is to really get a good grip of our cards and be constantly updated for credit protection methods.



In February, the PRA published a consultation paper containing its proposals as to how the eligibility criteria for guarantees to be treated as unfunded credit protection under the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) should be interpreted (our blog is here). Those proposals have proved to be controversial. ‘in a timely manner’ means that the pay-out should be made without delay and “within days, but not weeks or months”, of the date on which the obligor fails to make payment. “incontrovertible” in a manner which may give rise to difficulties for guarantees governed by certain laws. Norton Rose Fulbright has replied to the PRA consultation paper setting out why it believes the regulator’s proposals cannot be justified. For a copy of that reply, please contact Kenneth Gray.