What Is Identity Theft and How Can You Prevent It?
Have you wondered if there is a way to find out if you are at risk for identity theft without signing up for a monthly service? If so there is good news for you. There is a new service called MyIDScore.com which comes highly recommended by such experts as Clark Howard.
It works in a similar manner to some of the free credit score Web sites; when you go to the Web site, you fill in your personal information, i.e. name, date of birth, address and phone number, and your Social Security information. You are then asked several questions about who you are. It next goes through every digitized financial transaction record it has and finds out if anyone else appears to be using your personal information. This technology has been in use for a while now; financial institutions use it, for instance, when verifying information of potential new customers who apply for a credit card.
Click here to visit MyIDScore.
It calculates your ID security by using the identity database that belongs to ID Analytics. The database holds millions of bits of personal identity data — names, contact information, Social Security numbers — information gleaned from such sources as change of address forms. Fraud is detected, for instance, if it finds an application for a loan or credit card was submitted using your address.
Fortunately, most people are not victims of identity theft or fraud and thus get the safe low score of around 300. Anyone who gets a score exceeding 300 is asked to get in touch with a nonprofit organization called the Identity Theft Resource Center for a free investigation.
In addition to using a free service like this, it is strongly recommended that you check your credit report; by law in the U.S. you can receive the report free of charge once a year at AnnualCreditReport.com
While MyIDScore offers a great deal, it is worthwhile to be more proactive on you own in preventing identity theft. Be aware that this services does not encompass every credit card issuer; nor does it include direct deposit account information or medical information. Nonetheless for what it is, a free service, it is a useful resource. You can read more about it at ClarkHoward.com Also see the video below to learn more about Identity Theft and How Can You Prevent It