Protect Your Credit If You Have Been Exposed By This Identity Theft Ring

Posted on | November 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment

In August, 2008, CNN and many other news agencies reported on the largest case of identity theft ever. According to the network, more than 41 million credit card numbers were stolen by an identity theft ring that hacked into the computer networks of nine national retail chains, including TJX Cos, Barnes & Noble, OfficeMax and BJ’s Wholesale Club.

I strongly encourage you to take a few simple steps to protect yourself from this crime, which affects as many as 10 million Americans each year, costing billions of dollars and countless hours to correct the problems it creates.

By law, when a data breach occurs, a company is required to send a letter to notify customers of their possible exposure, said Steve Ely, a divisional president for credit reporting company Equifax Inc. In the article from CNN, Ely said companies often downplay the problem to minimize damage to their reputation. “Ninety-nine percent of the time breach letters look like a piece of junk mail, and people throw them away.”

And indictments like those announced in August aren’t likely to prevent your data from getting into the hands of other criminals, warned Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy at Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit in San Diego.

“Even though they may have found the individuals,” said Stephens, “that is no guarantee that that information is not out there and available to people to use for fraudulent purchases.”

We’ve all heard these warnings before:. Carry as few credit cards as possible, and leave your Social Security card locked up at home. Never give out personal information by phone, mail or on the Internet unless you initiated the exchange and are clear why you’re sharing such details. Buy and use a shredder.

Other important steps include never leave outgoing mail in your mailbox and remove your incoming mail as soon as you can; shredding or tearing up any private information before throwing them in the garbage. Also make sure online purchases are from secure sites, one good sign is that the URL changes from http to https.

Also, you should limit or eliminate the use of debit or check cards linked to bank accounts, especially online. You should also regularly monitor your credit report. You can do this by ordering your free credit report each year but for even better protection could include daily monitoring through a credit monitoring service.

Upon request, Federal law requires each of the three national credit reporting companies, Experian, Equifax and Transunion, to provide consumers with one free credit report each year. The reports can be obtained at http://www.annualcreditreport.com or by certified mail or phone. Identity theft experts recommend rotating requests among the three bureaus, obtaining one report every four months.

For better identity theft protection, consider thinking about paying for a credit protection service. Make sure you compare them to find the right choice for yourself.

Though many identity protection companies offer similar services they are not all the same. One of the best credit monitoring companies is TrustedID. They place and renew your fraud alerts, monitor your credit and provide a guarantee, it is like having your own personal security guard working for you 24/7 to protect your credit and your identity.