But your report reveals a bombshell. Several credit card accounts have been falsely opened in your name. Someone has charged thousands of dollars in purchases!

Monitoring your credit is one of the most effective ways to ensure you haven’t unknowingly fallen victim to an identity thief or other criminal. Your credit report can tell you all sorts of valuable information, including:

• A listing of all credit cards opened in your name

• A record of any loan taken out in your name

• How much is owed on all credit cards and loans

• How regularly you make payments

• If any action has been taken against you because of unpaid bills

By checking your credit report, you can verify that no credit cards or loans have been fraudulently taken out in your name. In a matter of minutes, you can ensure you’re safe from identity theft.

Credit Monitoring Services

To further protect yourself from identity theft, consider a utilizing a credit monitoring service. These services constantly monitor your credit by the 3 reporting agencies: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. If any of these agencies enters new information into your credit history (for example, because someone attempted to open an account in your name), you are instantly alerted. That way, you can take immediate action to research the suspicious activity and raise the red flag if the activity is in fact fraud.

Whether you opt for monitoring your credit on a regular basis on your own, or you automate the process by utilizing a credit monitoring service, it is critical to know your credit situation at all times. Don’t let an identity theft ruin your ability to maintain a positive credit score and ruin your purchasing power.

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© Cole for Identity Theft Blog, 2009. | Monitoring Your Credit to Prevent Identity Theft | http://www.identitytheftblog.com/78/monitoring-your-credit-prevent-identity-theft/

The above situation is directly comparable to identity theft – simple to prevent, tremendously difficult to solve.  The old adage of “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is truer in identity theft than anywhere else.

While recovering from a stolen identity is a long-term process that can take years of effort and cause high degrees of stress, the good news is that identity theft prevention is now as easy as being smart, safe and activating an innovative new tool:  identity theft monitoring.  Identity theft monitoring provides a close eye over your identity 24/7, and stops any attempts at ID theft before they occur.  The system continuously monitors your SSN, bank accounts, credit cards and other vital assets Identity theft monitoring  also provides you with alerts if suspicious activities occur on your monitored accounts; providing peace of mind about this potentially disastrous situation.

Seeing identity theft tear through someone’s life is heartbreaking, as it harms everything from their finances, to their opportunities for career advancement, to their ability to buy a home.

The road to gaining your identity back is longwinded, requires lengthy phone calls, processes and forms.  You’ve seen the media covering these horrific tales, but the good news is that as simply as you can install anti-virus software to your computer you can stop your identity from being stolen.

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© admin for Identity Theft Blog, 2009. | Identity Theft Protection:  An Ounce Of Prevention Is Worth A Pound Of Cure | http://www.identitytheftblog.com/15/identity-theft-protection/