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The vast majority of people don't realize how the credit score system works - and contrary to popular belief, it can be easy and fast to raise your score! |
Learn about Credit Monitoring
In an age when identity theft is becoming more common and those perpetrating it are getting smarter at covering their tracks, a credit monitoring company is a great option for helping to protect you.
The purpose of a credit monitoring service is to help protect you and your credit score from identity thieves. To understand why it is important to consider a credit monitoring service, it is first necessary to understand what identity thieves are and what they can do to your life.
Identity thieves steal social security numbers, sign up for credit cards with your personal information and buy big ticket items with those credit cards. Victims of identity theft face a long, hard road of trying to clear their credit history and some are never able to do it completely.
Identity theft can destroy your life – not just your credit. Being the victim of identity theft could mean:
- Possible arrest for debts or charges against you for things the thief has done in your name.
- Not being able to attend college.
- Possible jail time for credit fraud of you are not able to prove the theft.
- Possibility of losing your home if the thief uses the property to get a secured loan or mortgage.
- Lack of access to credit cards, loans or things of that nature because of poor credit or outstanding collections on your credit report.
For all of those reasons, credit monitoring services are a wise investment. They provide the consumer with the piece of mind that comes with knowing someone is looking out for them. Credit monitoring programs watch for new accounts created or credit cards applied for with your information. They also track any major purchases and notify you if anything seems out of the ordinary with the transactions. Many of these services, if not all, also provide you with insurance – some offer up to one million dollars – in the event of identity theft. This helps insure that even if you do become a victim, there is at least something there to help back you up.
Credit monitoring services watch your credit rating and watch your transactions to make sure there doesn’t appear to be any tampering with your accounts. If you make a large, out of character purchase at a store you don’t normally shop at, chances are you will hear from the service you’ve chosen. Although that might sound like it could be irritating, in reality, it’s a great example of how well the service is actually doing its job.
One of the most frustrating parts of identity theft is that often, the victim is unaware the theft has taken place until they try to take out a loan, get a mortgage on their house, lease a car or apply for a credit card. They are shocked when they are turned down because to the best of their knowledge, they have excellent credit. By this time, it’s likely too late to effectively reverse the damage to their credit rating – at least not without a lot of time and effort.
Credit Monitoring simply makes sense and is easy to do, See below.
Click here to find out how Credit Monitoring can help you.