Identity Fraud And Your Credit Report

A credit report is information about each person that is used by financial institutions to determine whether or not to give you credit. It contains vital personal information about a person as well as employment information and credit use information. It is given to anyone who asks for it when they have your permission, primarily banks and other lending institutions who are considering giving you a loan or a mortgage. It is vitally important that you check your credit record at least once a year from each of the three credit reporting agencies.

Each agency may have different information about you and your credit history, so it's important to check all three. They all offer one free report a year and this is an important step to maintaining good credit and for avoiding identity fraud. In your report you will find information about your life - as a person, such as your mailing address, Social Security Number, phone number, birth date, etc. You will also find information on your employment history and your borrowing/credit history.

Of course, the most important part of the credit report is the information about your history with credit and how you use it. Identity fraud can seriously tarnish your credit report in a hurry, most fraudulent people who've stolen an identity don't bother to pay the creditors back. Your report will show you a history of your credit applications and histories, having too many applications is a negative on your credit report as is having too many unpaid, late or delinquent payments on your bills. The three major credit reporting agencies are Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

Lenders obtain your credit report from one of these agencies, all of which have similar, albeit not exactly the same, information about you and your credit history. It's important to monitor your credit report and your monthly bills and watch for 'red flags' that may symbolize that you have become a victim of identity theft.

Several loan applications made in quick succession at a variety of agencies. Many hits on your credit report for loan and credit applications over a long period of time. Some identity thieves are very tricky and go slowly with credit applications so as to not raise any alarm bells. Any application made out of state. It is important that you thoroughly read your report and make note of anything on there that you do not recall.

You can always request a change to your credit report and if you suspect that you are the victim of identity theft, head to the police station immediately with your credit reports in hand. It is a sad and unfortunate truth that anyone, even you, can fall victim to identity fraud. For the thieves, we usually make it quite easy - throwing away bills with information on it about us in our trash, throwing away application forms for credit and not being vigilant with our online financial dealings.

1. User Registration: Require users to register for an account and collect important information such as their address, phone number, complete name and ask them to store credit card information directly on the website. 2. IP Address Monitoring: Keep a blacklist and whitelist of known malicious and safe IP addresses.

When an IP comes up on a blacklist, require a phone call with the customer to verify the information in the order and make sure that the order is legitimate. 3. Suspicious Activity: If a customer places a small order and then comes back later in the day to place a larger order, make sure that this isn't a scam to check if a credit card works. Rather than declining the order, call the customer to verify the order and collect information required to verify their identity.

50 worth of merchandise, take an extra day to ship the merchandise if large and erratic orders suddenly come through. Twenty-four hours usually provides enough time for a customer to report a lost or stolen credit card, and this protects the business from fraud. 5. Security Holes: Make sure that the website ordering process doesn't have any security holes that allow a user to enter incorrect information.

For instance, require the CVN code and expiration date to match the credit card number used. If a credit card number gets lost or stolen but the holder maintains the physical card, these numbers aren't typically readily available. 6. Application Updates: Keep your applications up-to-date and fix all software security holes immediately. If you are using a commercial shopping cart solution, make sure that you subscribe to updates and fix any software holes as updates become available.

7. Identity Verification: Use advanced real-time credit card authentication methods provided by a third-party service to ensure that all credit cards processed are legitimate. If the card holder participates in a verification program, make those programs available on the website so that the card holder must use additional security measures to place their orders.



8. Reporting Criminal Activity: Make it clear on the website that criminal activity gets reported to the FBI. This helps customers feel more secure and may thwart a criminal from trying to use stolen financial information on your site. 9. Detecting Proxies and VPNs: Have a system in place to detect when customers connect with a VPN or proxy. VPNs and proxies mask the real IP address, which prevents the business from determining if the customer is legitimate. 10. Payer Authentication: Store sensitive customer information in a secure format and only collect customer information when using a highly secure SSL certificate.