How to Protect Your Identify In 4 Easy Steps

More and more people are getting their identities stolen these days. Unfortunately, I've had to learn a lot about identity theft over the past couple of years so I thought I would share some quick tips to help you protect your identity.

Here are 4 easy steps to helping protect your identity. Each thing on this list can be done for free. There are also services who will do all of this for you for about $10 per month.


First, contact the credit bureaus and ask them to set fraud alerts on your behalf.

Equifax: 1-877-576-5734; www.equifax.com
Experian: 1-888-397-3742; www.experian.com/fraud
TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com

Second, make sure you keep this Fraud Alert on your account. You will need to contact one of the credit bureaus every 90 days to make sure the alert is active. It's a simple call, so just put a reminder in your calendar to do this once a quarter.

Third, remove your name from pre-approved credit card and junk mail lists.

Fourth, order a free credit reports at least once per year and go through it with a fine-tooth comb. Look for any problems like addresses or credit cards you do not recognize. Make sure all of the information on your credit report is accurate, otherwise you should get it corrected as soon as possible.

I wouldn't worry too much about this. Just be aware so that you can catch fraud as soon as it occurs and you should be fine.