« Some tips to prevent Identity Theft | Main | How to Opt Out from Pre Screened Credit offers and Prevent Identity Theft »
Protection from Identity Theft and the pitfalls of pre approved credit.
By Paul Rushing | July 16, 2007
One of the hardest questions I get asked about is “How do I protect myself from Identity Theft?”. There are some common sense things that you can do. First and foremost you need to Opt Out from prescreened credit offers. This does two things. it stops your mail box from getting flooded with credit card offers and it stops companies from accessing you your credit report without your authorization.
It is a little know fact that the credit bureaus sell your information to companies that request it. The process works like this:
- Companies submit a list of criteria to the credit reporting agencies, such as give us a list of home owners in a certain zip code with a credit score above 600.
- The credit bureaus take this information and process it and give the company that requested the information a list of every person in a zip code that has a mortgage or had a mortgage in that zip code with a credit score above 600.
- The company takes this information and sends you an offer of credit for various products and services.
- Sometimes these companies also take your information and farm out telemarketing overseas to solicit you to complete their offer.
This process has a double negative. Not only is your personal credit profile released to companies without your knowing, it also provides them with your contact information to create a marketing list. The rules say also that if the credit bureaus release your information based on the criteria provided they must give you a qualified offer or credit. Which places a prequalified offer of credit in your mailbox.
Simple economics has them farming out your information to India and the Philippines to solicit you via telephone as well. Also prequalified offers of credit places information in your mail box that idetity theives love to have. If the identity theft thief is slick enough to get the presreened offer out of your mail box he or she will also be able to get the credit card when it comes in.
To prevent this from happening to you make sure you Opt Out with the credit reporting agencies. This is just the first step in protection from Identity Theft. I personally use Life Lock for Identity theft protection. For just $9.00 per month they will make sure you are opted out from prescreened credit offers and take other steps necessary to have protection from Identity Theft. They also back this up with a $1,000,000 guarantee if you are ever a victim of identity theft while enrolled in their program. Visit Life Lock today and save 10% and get the first 30 days for free.
Topics: Protection |