Free credit reports available starting Tuesday

"Illinois consumers will get an important tool in the fight against identity theft starting Tuesday when a new federal law offering people access to free credit reports takes effect.

Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, consumers will be entitled to one free copy of their credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus -- Equifax, Experian and Trans Union -- each year. The reports can be ordered online at www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling, toll-free, (877) 322-8228."

Full article from The Chicago Sun-Times

Advice for ChoicePoint victims

An article on CNN/Money gives advice to victims of the recent ChoicePoint fraud fiasco.

"If you are a victim and live in neither state, talk to TransUnion, which is the most consumer-friendly of all the credit bureaus. They have allowed identity fraud victims in the past to put a freeze on their reports and may do so for ChoicePoint victims, according to Sheila Gordon, director of Victim Services at the Identity Theft Resource Center."

More

My Journey Into the World of Free Credit Reports

Even though I am fortunate enough to live in one of the western states where residents have been able to request their free credit reports since December, I didn't get around to actually requesting mine until just this past week. I'll give you a summary of how it went so you can have an idea of what to expect if you're wanting to try it yourselves.

First off, I opened up a browser window and visited Annualcreditreport.com. Sidenote: That link should work, but if not, just type it in your browser. For some reason the credit bureaus have decided to adopt the unusual policy of only allowing incoming links from certain sites. I guess their thinking is that it will somehow reduce fraud or something, but it seems like backward thinking to me. Links are what make this a web.

Once I got to the site, I figured the process would be as simple as entering my information once, then simply selecting which bureaus' credit reports I wanted to see. Unfortunately, it's not that simple, but the annualcreditreport site did a pretty good job of helping me find my way around.

First off I had to choose my state from a drop down menu on the homepage. So I selected Utah and clicked "go". Then thy asked for my personal information, including social security number, date of birth, and current address. If I hadn't lived there for at least 2 years, I would also have had to put my previous address. Then it takes me to a page where I can select which of the three major credit bureaus' credit reports I want to receive (see the screenshot below). You can choose to see just one of the burueaus' credit reports, or you can choose to see all three. The order of the credit bureaus is random, so it won't necessarily be in this same order when you go to request your credit report.

Experian - take 1

The first credit report I tried to request was Experian. When I clicked on the "next" button on the annual credit report site, it took me to the Experian website, where it asked me four questions based on my credit history. The questions were related to the date a loan was first issued and the payment amounts for each loan. One of my questions was related to a mortgage loan, but none of the answers seemed right, so I selected "none of the above". I guess they didn't like my answer because it said there was a problem processing my request or something like that. It wasn't really clear from the error message if it was a problem with their system or if it was a problem with my answer. I clicked the back button on my browser, but it wouldn't let me try again (probably a good security measure). This little checkpoint has been known to cause a lot of problems with people requesting their credit reports online because mortgages are often sold several times, so it can be confusing to know exactly which bank they're asking for. It can become even more confusing if you've got a home equity loan thrown into the mix, because it can ask about a mortgage loan, when it really means the home equity loan.

Anyway, back to the annual credit report site, where it seems to think I already got my Experian credit report, so it gives me the option to request the other two. I came to realize that the annual credit report site is simply a referral site to send people each credit bureau's site to actually request the credit reports.

Equifax

Next up was Equifax. After passing a quiz similar to the Experian one regarding certain items on my credit report, I am given the option to pay $6.95 to get a FICO credit score based on my Equifax report. Might as well shell out the 7 bucks, because what good is a credit reportwithout a credit score? I also took advantage of their offer to set up an account with Equifax so I can access my account online for 30 days. It didn't cost anything extra for that, but if I didn't set up the account, it would have been a one time viewing of the credit report. They also threw in a free credit ranking analysis, that shows me how my credit and debt compare to everyone else. This is supposedly $7.95, but I'm a marketing guy, I know how those "retail values" work. While they're at it, they offered to show me "credit offers" based on my credit score/credit profiile. I think that means credit card and loan offers, but I'm not sure exactly because I declined their offer. They also had a "home valuator" add on for $6.95. I declined that one, too. At the bottom of this page, there was a checkbox to opt out of marketing offers, which they said was in accordance with their privacy notice.

Lots of marketing going on, but I made it through and was immediately able to access my credit report and FICO credit score. The information was presented an an easy to understand format. Very straightforward and intuitive interface. One thing I really liked about Equifax is the fact that they gave me the option to get the FICO score along with my credit report. They are the only one of the three credit bureaus that gives that option. The other two offer credit scores (for a fee), but it's not a FICO score, it's a score that they come up with using their own proprietary algorithms, so it's not the same thing any lending institutions would ever look at to decide whether or not to loan you money.

TransUnion

After perusing my credit report and the associated information from Equifax, I clicked the link back to the annual credit report site. I was able to click over to TransUnion. Once I got to the TransUnion website, I was again asked some questions to prove it was me, then it asked me to set up an account. It recognized me as a past Transunion customer based on my personal info, so it asked me to login. The only problem was I didn't know my login. I tried a few possible username/password combinations with no luck. Then I checked my old email to see if I had an email from them somewhere. I couldn't find it, so I decided to try searching my email with Google desktop search as a last resort. Sure enough, Google pulled through once again and I was able to find the email with the login information. Yahoo! er, I mean Google!

Once into their system, I was given the option to buy a credit score to go along with my report. Theirs costs $5.95. I decided to try it out. I almost passed out when I saw my credit score was almost 850. Then I realized they use their own scoring system that ranges from 400-925, which meant I didn't have such perfect credit after all. Still good, but not perfect. They really shouldn't toy with me like that. Why in the world do they have a scale that's so different from all the standard credit scoring systems anyway? That's screwy. Aside from the credit score issue, everything went very smoothly with requesting my TransUnion credit report. The credit report information was easy to read and understand. They had some good links to additional information about credit reports and also provided a place where you could dispute inaccurate items if necessary. I think all three of the credit bureaus offered a way to contact them regarding disputed items through their websites.

Experian - take 2

Two down, one to go. I still needed that pesky credit report from Experian, but it wouldn't let me request it when I clicked back on annualcreditreport.com because it thought I'd already gotten it. I was about ready to pick up the phone and do it the old fashioned way, but I decided to give it one more shot. I went back to the homepage on annualcreditreport.com and started over. I filled out all my personal information again and this time just selected to request the Experian report.

Interestingly enough, they asked the same questions about the same loans, so I figured out the answers they were looking for this time, and they let me in. Like the other two credit bureaus, Experian isn't going to miss a chance to cross sell a few of their quality products (and make a little money from their "free" customers), so they had some offers. I could have requested an Experian PLUS score that ranges from 330 to 830. After my disappointment with the TransUnion score, I decided not to pay the $5 for this one. Besides, I have a pretty good idea where my credit score will fall by this point--as long as they have accurate information on my credit history. They also offered a monthly credit alert service for $4.95/month that covers all three credit bureaus' reports and sends and alert if anything suspicious shows up on any of them. I opted not to do that alert for now.

Now that I was finally able to access my Experian credit report, the data was fine. Seemed easy enough to use and had all the info I needed. There were some weird display problems where it showed some of the information in this really skinny column. I'm guessing it was just a Mozilla compatiblity issue. Experian's developers probably only tested their application in IE and not Firefox, which is what I use. I was able to see everything it just looked funny, that's all.

Summary

Overall, the process of requesting my credit reports and credit scores was relatively painless. It took me about about two hours, but that includes the time I took to review each bureau's credit report before requesting the next. I was able to request all three online with only a few glitches, but it all worked out in the end. I can see how some people might run into problems and need to pick up the phone to get their credit reports.

The credit bureaus have done a fairly good job of making these credit reports accessible, but keep in mind that just having your credit report won't do you a lot of good if you're getting ready to apply for a loan or some other type of credit. Of course you can check the information on your report to make sure it's accurate, but you'll want to find out your credit scores (I recommend FICO) for each credit bureau to get an idea of how lenders will view your overall credit worthiness.

Tips on Avoiding Identity Theft

"Michele Norris talks with Evan Hendricks, editor and publisher of Privacy Times and author of Credit Scores and Credit Reports, about why people should be concerned about identity theft and what they can do to avoid it."

Listen to the NPR interview

More on ChoicePoint Fraud Scheme

From CNN.com

"ChoicePoint Inc., a national provider of identification and credential verification services, says it will send an additional 110,000 statements to people informing them of possible identity theft after a group of well-organized criminals was able to obtain personal information on almost 140,000 consumers through the company."

Apparently they decided to notify everyone whose information was compromised, not just California residents. That's the right move and I'm glad they decided to do the right thing, even though it only came after a lot of negative national public exposure of the scam.

ChoicePoint Fraud Case is Worse Than We Thought

More on this story about the fraudsters who set up fake companies to request thousands of consumers' credit reports. Apparently California is the only state with a law requiring disclosure of this type of leak, that's probably why only the Californians were notified of the leak. It's not necessarily because people in other states weren't affected. That's kind of disturbing if you ask me. It would be nice to see these companies being a little more proactive about notifiying potential victims of potential fraud, regardless of laws "requiring" them to notify people.

From an updated MSNBC article:

"So far, only California residents have been told their information may have been stolen, but experts believe the fraud likely involved consumers around the country. California state law requires disclosure of such data leaks, but it is the only state in the country to do so. Similar laws have been proposed in several other states, including New York. "

Full article on MSNBC

Fraud Ring Taps Into Credit Data

"A fraud ring infiltrated one of the nation's largest collectors of consumer information and obtained credit reports, Social Security numbers and other information about tens of thousands of people in a massive case of identity theft.

ChoicePoint Inc. said Tuesday that it had begun sending letters to about 35,000 California residents to tell them that their personal information may have been compromised. The Georgia company urged them to check their credit reports for new accounts or suspicious activity.

The scope of the scam is likely to widen because California is the only state that requires companies to notify people when the security of their personal information is jeopardized.

A ChoicePoint spokesman said the number of victims nationwide could total 100,000, but the company could not be sure of the extent of the fraud and had no plans to contact people outside California.

'This is the worst in our seven years,' said the spokesman, James Lee. 'This is extraordinarily serious.'"

Full Story on the LA Times

Preventing identity theft

This article about identity theft offers some good advice on preventing identity theft. In case you didn't know, this week is National Consumer Protection Week.

A few more good identity theft resources:

Identity Theft Exposed - from AARP

Identity Theft - from Better Business Bureau

Fact Sheets on Telecommunications Frauds - from FCC

Identity Theft Resource Center

Information on Phishing

December consumer credit rose $3.1 billion

Must have been the holiday shopping sprees that put the amount of total United States consumer credit up over $2 Trillion.

"U.S. consumer credit rose by $3.1 billion, or a 1.8 percent annual rate, in December to a record seasonally adjusted $2.104 trillion."

An interesting comment regarding these figures:

"Mellman said that consumer credit hasn't been a good indicator of spending or borrowing lately because home owners are tapping home equity loans instead of consumer credit."

From CBS Marketwatch

8 signs you may know an identity thief

"Many people worry about hackers stealing their passwords or Dumpster divers grabbing their financial documents. But a big chunk of identity theft is committed by the victim's nearest and dearest -- or at least someone the victim knows.

Exactly how many identity thieves aren't strangers is a bit of a mystery. Nearly half of all victims have no idea how their information was stolen, and only about one in four know who did the stealing, according to a new survey by Javelin Research.

Of those who do know, however, half pointed to friends, relatives, neighbors or in-home employees.

Identity thieves

'They know your patterns, they have access to your financial information, they know those unique identifiers like your mother's maiden name,' said Ken Hunter, head of the Council of Better Business Bureaus and former chief postal inspector, head of the fraud investigative arm of the U.S. Postal Service. 'It's just so easy.'

Identity theft is so rampant today that you need to take steps to secure your financial information, regardless of whom a potential thief might be (see '10 ways to stop identity theft cold.') But you might want to be especially vigilant about certain people in your life if you notice any of the following warning signs:"

More from MSN Money

Divorce & Credit - Don't let your ex trash your credit

You've got a lot to worry about when you go through a divorce, but don't let it screw up your credit. There's a good article on the subject on MSN Money:

"When Joan divorced several years ago, her ex agreed to pay off the couple’s $20,000 in credit-card debt. They made the agreement part of their official divorce decree.

That, Joan thought, was that. Except every couple of months since then, creditors have called her because her ex has missed a payment. Despite the divorce agreement, she’s still on the hook, and all the late payments have trashed her credit.

“I just assumed my responsibility ended” once the divorce was final, said Joan, a Los Angeles homemaker who asked that her last name not be used. “But it turns out that’s not true.”

Many divorced people learn the hard way that creditors don’t care how property and bills are divided in a divorce. If a debt was incurred in a joint account, both spouses are responsible for paying it back.

Your agreement with your creditors predates your split, explains divorce attorney and financial planner Amy Boohaker of Sarasota, Fla. You can’t force a creditor to abide by an agreement you make later with your spouse.

And not every divorced person gets a phone call to notify them that their ex is in arrears. It was only after Atlanta resident Tony Martin pulled his credit report, for example, that he learned his ex-wife had failed to pay the mortgage on the family home she received in their property settlement. Since his name was still on the loan, the foreclosure will remain a major blot on both of their credit reports for seven years.

In an ideal world, divorce attorneys would alert the clients to these dangers and help them protect themselves. In reality, the discussion may never happen. A couple may not use an attorney, or the lawyer may not be fully aware of the credit problems an irresponsible or vengeful ex can cause."

Full article on MSN Money

Groups Show How Top Stop Identity Theft

"With so many Americans falling victim to identity theft and fraud, this year's National Consumer Protection Week is focusing on how consumers can better safeguard their personal information.

Government agencies, consumer advocacy groups and nonprofit organizations will spend the week of Feb. 6-12 encouraging Americans to learn more about ways to protect their Social Security numbers and other personal data, recognize fraudulent telemarketers and avoid computer scammers.

'Identity theft is one of those problems that needs serious attention and effort on the part of both consumers and industry,' said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America in Washington, D.C. 'There's an urgent need to raise awareness.'

What fraudsters do is steal wallets and purses, go through mail boxes, rummage through trash or send bogus e-mails to try to get Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and other personal information. They then use the information to drain a victim's bank account or to open new accounts in the victim's name or to take out loans for cars and even homes.

The Federal Trade Commission, which coordinates the government's consumer fraud prevention efforts, recently reported that ID theft topped the list of complaints to the agency in 2004 for the fifth year in a row, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the 635,000 complaints that were filed.

FTC spokeswoman Claudia Bourne Farrell said that while thieves had become more resourceful, so have consumers."

Read Full Article

The Hunt for the Perfect Credit Score

Total Credit Reports has teamed up with TrueCredit in a nationwide search for people with a perfect credit score. For the month of February, anyone who has earned a perfect 850 TransUnion credit score can qualify to claim the $1000 prize along with a lifetime of free Credit Alerts to help them keep their score spotless and guard against identity theft. Just purchase your credit report through TrueCredit and it could be your lucky day!

Could it be you?

Identity Theft Remains Top Fraud Complaint

"Thirty-nine percent of all complaints filed in 2004 were related to identity theft, which is a 1% decline from 2003, according to a newly released FTC report."

Read more from Informationweek.com

Full Report from the FTC (PDF)

9 ways to build a killer credit score

Liz Pulliam Weston gives some sound advice on building an excellent, or "killer" credit score. Here's an excerpt from her article on MSN MoneyCentral:

It's much easier to start from scratch than to repair black marks later on. Here's how to push the right buttons at the credit bureaus.

Establishing a good credit history has never been as important as it is today.

It’s not just that you’ll need good credit to get decent rates when you’re ready to buy a home or a car. Your credit history can determine whether you get a good job, a decent apartment or reasonable rates on insurance. One seemingly minor misstep -- a late payment, maxing out your credit cards, applying for too much credit at once -- can haunt you for years.

If you’re just starting out, you have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a credit history the right way. Here’s what to do, and what to avoid.

1. Check your credit report
   
2. Establish checking and savings accounts
   
3. Understand the basics of credit scoring
   
4. Piggyback on someone else’s good credit
   
5. Apply for credit while you’re a college student
   
6. Apply for a secured credit card
   
7. Get a finance company card
   
8. Get an installment loan
   
9. Use revolving accounts lightly but regularly
   

Read the Article on MSN