Credit Security & ID Theft Links

Since the main goal of this blog is to educate the masses, then I need to let you know what resources you have available. By following the simple guidelines set forth in this blog, coupled with these links. You should have more than a fighting chance of minimizing the impact Fraud or Identity Theft should have upon you.

Credit Bureaus (CBR)

Equifax	Experian	TransUnion
http://www.equifax.com/	http://www.experian.com/	http://www.transunion.com/
Equifax Credit Information Services, Inc. P.O. Box 740241 Atlanta, GA 30374	Experian PO Box 9532 Allen, TX 75013	TransUnion Fraud Victim Assistance Department P.O. Box 6790 Fullerton, CA 92834
Fraud Alerts: 1-888-766-0008	Fraud Alerts: 1 888 397 3742	Fraud Alerts: 1-800-680-7289
Denied Credit: www.equifax.com/fcra	Denied Credit: http://www.experian.com/reportaccess/	Denied Credit: https://annualcreditreport.transunion.com/entry/disputeonline

If you time it right, and pull one of the three Credit Bureaus every 4 months you will be able to monitor your credit very easily. There are a lot of pay services that will email you or call you when there are changes or new accounts on your CBR, but the benefits they offer are minimal compared to what you can do for yourself with a little preventative care. Also some of these pay services are nearly as bad for you as having fraudulent accounts opened up as they sell your information for marketing purposes to other companies, which in turn increases your unsolicited mail greatly.

Other Links for Recovering from Identity Theft

If someone has stolen your Identity for the Purposes of Work or for Fraud, chances are you will have to contact the following Government Agencies. Depending on what sort of accounts were opened up without your permission, you may have to visit with all three to get proof of who you are.

Social Security (http://ssa.gov/)

• Social Security will be able to provide you proof of SSN, Income and additional resources. You will almost be forced to visit with them if someone has used your Information to Work.

Internal Revenue Service (http://www.irs.gov/)

• Not very many like dealing with the IRS, but in the case of Identity Theft, they have some vast resources to help you recover. Visit the IRS if you have had someone working underneath your Identity to ensure that you do not have any problems later when you want to retire etc.
  

Federal Trade Commission (http://ftc.gov/)

• There are a VAST amount of ID Theft resources available from the FTC. They have many different ID Theft brochures that may help.
  

Oops! I lost my Card!

Since there are far to many Financial Institutions to list each and everyone of their information, I will break it down by Issuer: Visa, Mastercard, American Express & Discover. The big 4 as I like to refer to them.

If you lose your Credit/Debit card and do not have the exact name or number of the bank you need to call for it, you can always report the card lost with the Issuer.

Visa	Mastercard	American Express	Discover
www.VISA.com	www.mastercard.com	www.AmericanExpress.com	http://www.discovercard.com/
In the US: (800) 847-2911	In the US: (800) 627-8372	In the US: (800) 528-4800	In the US: (800) DISCOVER
International Collect: (410) 581-9994	International Collect: (636) 722-7111	International Collect: (336) 393-1111	International Collect: (801) 902-3100