Money Listens

Would you know what to do if a bank called and said someone was attempting to open an account in your name?  Have you thought about buying credit card protection?  Are you worried about identity theft?

There’s a good article in today’s Wall Street Journal about credit monitoring services:  Cardholders Buy Peace of Mind, if Not Security. You can read about some consumers’ experiences with the four largest companies and get some tips for securing your information.  The companies mentioned are CardCops, LifeLock Inc., Debix Inc. and TrustedID Inc.  A service can’t protect you from everything, but it is good for people who don’t have the time or computer savy to do it themselves.

There’s also a non-profit agency, Identity Theft Resource Center, that helps victims.  The center has an excellent website loaded with resources and “Fact Sheets.”  You can get step by step instructions on everything from what to do if your wallet or PDA is stolen to how to get a credit report for a child.  It has a Fact Sheet on how to understand your credit report that is one of the best I’ve read.  Regularly reviewing your credit report is the most important way to detect identity theft.

Would you know what to do if a bank called and said someone was attempting to open an account in your name?  I would go to the Identity Theft Resource Center’s website and follow their advice.

This entry (Permalink) was posted on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 at 12:20 pm and is filed under House of Credit and Debit Cards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response , or trackback from your own site.