Southern California Mortgage Blog

Free Annual Credit Reports

You are entitled to a copy of your credit report each year.

You can order the reports on line, but be very careful that you use this exact address:

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp The are sites that are similar and can cause you to give your private information to identity thieves.

I prefer and advise that you write a letter or call each of the three main credit repositories.

They are:

Equifax Credit Information Services 

PO Box 740241 Atlanta, GA 30375  By phone: 1-800-216-1035,

http://www.econsumer.equifax.com/equifax.app/Welcome

TransUnion Corporation

PO Box 390 Springfield, PA 19064-0390 By phone: 1-800-888-4213

http://www.transunion.com/CreditReport/

Experian

ATTN: NCAC

PO Box 949 Allen,  TX 75002 By phone: 1-888-397-3742

http://www.experian.com/consumer/index.html

I prefer to have the written reports mailed to my clients because they are easier to read.

It is important to get your reports every year to review what is on each one. 72% of credit reports contain errors and of that 72%, twenty-five percent of those will cause a borrower to be declined on a loan.

Obtaining your annual credit reports is essential to protect your credit profile from identity theft. Check out www.CreditFitness.net for more information.

Check Washing & Identity Theft

Keeping your personal paperwork private is very important.

Most of identity thefts occur because of thieves going through your trash. Another trick is checking your mailbox to find outgoing checks that you may write to pay your bills.

Checks can be stolen and then “washed”. The payment amount and payee can be changed and a check with your own signature can be cashed for whatever amount the thief chooses. Of course, this is very worrisome to anyone who pays their bills by check and doesn't take them to the post office.

There is one of the simple remedies that can help you avoid becoming a victim of this crime:

Frank W. Abagnale, a Secure Document Expert and reformed identity theft thief, recommended the use of Uni-ball 207 gel pens for writing checks. Mr. Abagnale was the subject of the movie Catch Me If You Can, which is about a thief and imposter who is really good at what he does.

On their package, the manufacturer states that “Many Uni-ball pens , such as the Uni-ball 207, use specially formulated inks that contain color pigments that are absorbed into the check’s paper fibers, trapping it from check washing."

On his web-site, Mr. Abagnale states that being caught and convicted of identity theft is so rare that prevention is the very best course.

Do any of the readers have experience with these pens or ID theft?

Jury Duty: Our Civic Duty

You would receive a phone call from someone claiming to be the person in charge of jury duty for your area.

This person would claim that you have failed to show up for jury duty and are subject to fines or other penalties. This person would be very aggressive and seem very impatient. You would likely respond that you received no notice to appear for duty. The clerk would then go on to say that, “Everybody says that. You have a fine. How do you want to handle payment?”

You would then be lead on the way to giving up your Social Security number as well as a credit card number to pay the “fine”.

This is another ruse that only rarely fails to extract your Social Security number and other personal information. You might give your Social Security number to prove that you were never sent a notice. You would give a VISA card number to get rid of them and get off of jury duty!

Anytime, anyone contacts you and attempts to get personal information from you, ask for a phone number and say that you will call them back.  Check the number with 411 and call back with THAT number. If it’s legit; no harm done. If not, call the cops!

Follow this rule when giving out your personal information on the phone:

If you called them, it is likely all right to share personal information. If they call you, keep your personal information to yourself!