Things You'll Need:
- Internet
- Telephone
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Step 1
Monitor your credit report. This can be done at the government affiliated site annualcreditreport.com or a free trial at sites like freecreditreport.com. The credit report includes SSN, employment history, listing of accounts and your account history, and your overall credit score. The government allows you to get a free credit report from each of the 3 credit bureaus which are Equifax, Transunion, and Experian.
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Step 2
Request your information be not be retained unnecessarily. When you apply for a loan, rental, credit card, or anything that needs your credit report, request that your Social Security Number be removed from the application. Also, request that your credit report be destroyed after the decision has been made about what you are signing for. The only thing that will need to be retained by the other party is basic customer information and maybe your credit score.
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Step 3
Protect your Social Security number. Identity theft occurs most often when people do not protect their Social Security number. Make sure you do not give this out to anyone that should not have it.
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Step 4
Reduce junk mail and pre-approved credit cards. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Consumer Credit Reporting Companies are permitted to include your name on lists used by creditors or insurers to make firm offers of credit or insurance that are not initiated by you ("Firm Offers"). To do this go to www.optoutprescreen.com and register your name. Some identity thefts happen by intercepting these pre-approved credit cards and using them without your knowledge.
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Step 5
Order your Social Security Earnings and Benefits statement once a year to check for fraud.
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Step 6
Examine the charges on your credit card statements before paying them.
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Step 7
Subscribe to a credit report monitoring service that will notify you whenever something changes on your credit report.
