It is no secret that identity theft has become an increasingly popular crime in recent years. For 14 years in a row it has been the number one consumer complaint made to the Federal Trade Commission, and nothing has happened in 2014 that suggests the streak will end there. Movies, television shows, and commercials even commonly feature the shenanigans of fun-loving identity thieves who can turn their exploitations into a full time job. Unfortunately, true identity theft is no laughing matter and victims of these fraudsters can be forced to undergo months or years of hard work in order to undo the harm caused by fraudsters.
One of the ways that consumers can protect the security of their credit reports is to keep a close eye on them. This activity is commonly referred to as credit monitoring. Credit monitoring can be achieved with the help of an automated credit monitoring service or consumers can monitor their credit reports on their own by taking advantage of Federally mandated free credit reports.
Federally Mandated Free Credit Reports
Since 2003, thanks to the passage of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), consumers have been afforded the right to access a free copy of each of their three credit reports every 12 months. FACTA, which amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act, allows consumers to easily obtain their free credit reports online via www.AnnualCreditReport.com. Free reports can also be requested over the phone (877-322-8228) or via snail mail to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
Surprisingly, even though consumers have had the federal right to free annual credits report for a little over a decade, only 4% of those free reports are claimed each year. With hundreds of millions of unclaimed credit reports it is easy to surmise that U.S. consumers are simply not in the habit of actively monitoring their own credit reports, which can be a recipe for disaster and certainly makes consumers much easier targets for identity thieves.
If you live in either CO, GA, ME, MD, MA, NJ or VT you are also entitled to at least one additional free credit report because of your state’s laws. In Georgia you’re entitled to two additional free credit reports per year. Those reports must be claimed directly from the credit reporting agencies and not via the same website were you claim your Federally mandated free credit reports.
Additional Free Reports for Victims of Identity Theft
Checking credit reports annually is a good habit however for consumers that are trying to clean up the effects of identity theft, merely checking their credit reports once a year is not going to be enough. Thankfully for identity theft victims the Fair Credit Reporting Act affords them the right to access additional free credit reports to (a) monitor for fraudulent accounts and (b) to ensure that their efforts to remove fraudulent accounts from their credit reports have been successful.
When an identity theft victim adds a 90-day fraud alert to their credit reports, which is also a right you enjoy, they are automatically entitled to another free copy of their credit reports. If a victim files for an extended fraud alert they are entitled to two more free credit reports from each of the three credit bureaus during the 12 months following the initial placement of the alert. With the abundance of free credit reports available to most consumers there really is no legitimate excuse not to monitor credit report activity to at least some degree every year.
Thanks for the vital info.