Place an "active-duty alert" on your credit before deploying by contacting at least one of the three major credit reporting companies — Equifax, Experion and TranUnion. One company will contact the rest. The alert requires creditors to verify servicemembers’ identities before issuing lines of credit in their names. It also removes their names from the nationwide consumer reporting companies’ marketing lists for prescreened credit and insurance offers for two years.
Get a copy of your credit report annually to check for any irregularities. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires the three companies provide the information for free at least once a year. If you discover anything out of the ordinary, contact the companies and report the incident to base police and the Federal Trade Commission.
Don’t delay in correcting your records and contacting all companies that opened fraudulent accounts. Make the initial contact by phone, although you will normally need to follow up in writing. The longer the inaccurate information goes uncorrected, the longer it will take to resolve the problem.
More information on the Web at: www.ftc.gov/idtheft
Source: Federal Trade Commission.
Stumble It!
