General FAQs

How can I get a “fraud alert” for my file?

You can ask the credit reporting companies to add the “fraud alerts” to your credit file. With this alert, the moneylenders or creditors would know that you are one victim of identity theft. This would increase the difficulty for someone to use your name to apply for the loans.

With the alert, the moneylenders would need to follow a few steps to verify your identity before they could lend the money to you. In order to get such a fraud alert placed on your file, the best thing you can do is to simply call any of the three credit consumer companies available. When you ask one of the credit reporting companies to put the alert in your credit file, the other two companies would immediately be alerted to follow suit and place the alert in your file. So, you may simply contact any of the following companies:
Experian: 1-888-397-3742; www.experian.com/fraud
Equifax: 1-877-576-5734; www.alerts.equifax.com
TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com

If you set an ‘initial fraud alert’, it would stay in your file for 90 days. On the other hand, an ‘extended alert’ would stay for about 7 years on your file. Of course, you have to show your identity to the credit reporting companies in order to add the alert to your file.

For instance, you may need to present identification proof such as your Social Security number. For adding the extended alert, you would need to show the identity theft report. Such a report includes a copy of the original report filed when there was a reported fraud of identity from any law enforcement agent. You may visit www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/ if you want to know more about the types of identity theft reports.

What is meant by a credit report or credit file disclosure?

A credit file disclosure is commonly regarded as a credit report and is a list of information which all pertinent details about your credit status. This report would be presented to the moneylenders on request when you are going to borrow money from them. With such a report, one would be able to assess your reliability and your ability of repaying back the loan. Therefore, this report is important for you to obtain the loans.

On the report, there would be a detailed record of your credit. For instance, there would be record of the number of times of late payment or failure of repayment. A variety of other inquiries such as insurance account information as well as medical account information can be provided in such a disclosure. As per the law of various states and the Federal Law, you have the option of being able to receive a copy of such a disclosure from any credit consumer reporting agency.

 Under state law, can I get the free credit report legally?

Besides the Annual Credit Report Request Service, some individuals could actually get a free credit report under the state law. In some states, people could have the option to ask for a free credit report. These states include Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey as well as Vermont. Citizens in these states are entitled to the free credit report.

How often can I get the free credit reports online?

You may visit nationwide consumer credit reporting companies such as Experian, Equifax and TransUnion to avail of a free credit report. As per entitlement, one can get a report every 12 months.

Should I get the reports at the same time or get them at different times in 12 months?

As you have the right to ask for a free credit report from each of the credit reporting company every 12 months, you can choose to have all the reports at the same time. In this way, you can compare the reliability of different reports and you can find the most reliable reporting company. But if you decide to order the report in different period of time, you can check your credit score continuously.

You do not need to wait for 12 months in order to get an update of your credit record. With such a spaced schedule of getting the reports, you can keep updated every 2 to 3 months. Anyway, the decision is entirely yours.

All you have to remember is that you are entitled to receive one report free per year through the central source. What you can do is to choose order a report from one of the three credit consumer companies and then order the other reports at a later date. You can choose on your own, and different people would have different approaches in getting the free reports.

If I want a report for children who are 13 or below, what should I do?

Normally, the credit reporting companies would not store the credit records of children who are aged 13 or below. Since there is normally no such file stored for minors, if you suspect that the information of your kids are stolen and used to borrow money or for other credit-related activities, you should report it to the credit reporting companies as soon as possible and you need to supply them with relevant details of the child.

You should give them the full name of your child along with information such as data of birth, address as well as a copy of their birth certificate. If possible, you should also give them a copy of social security card of your children. Since you are requesting private information of your children on their behalf, you must also provide information of yourself such as your driver’s license.

In order to show that you have authority to ask for such a report on the behalf of the child, you should also provide a copy of your monthly utility bill. Normally, an address proof is listed on such utility bills, so it is best to submit your latest monthly bill.

If you want to mail the information to the credit reporting companies, you may use the addresses of these companies that are listed below.

Experian
P.O. Box 9554
Allen, Texas 75013

Equifax
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, Georgia 30374

TransUnion
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834

How can I ask for the credit report being a legal guardian?

For people who would like to ask for a credit report regarding their custody of a minor, they may apply for the report being the guardian of those people. Irrespective of whether you are the legal representative of the child or appointed as guardianship by the court, you should give your complete name, date of birth, proof of relationship or custody, address as well as social security number of the related person.

You would also have to provide any government approved identity proof to get the report. This can include your current utility bills as it contains your permanent current address. As long as you provide sufficient documents, you will get the report quickly.

You can contact any of the following credit agencies:

Experian
P.O. Box 9554
Allen, Texas 75013

Equifax
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, Georgia 30374

TransUnion
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834

 How can I correct the information on my credit file?

If you want to edit the information on your credit file, or you have arguments on the information listed on your credit file, you may contact the related credit reporting companies. Of course, you should find the right credit reporting company to ask for the correction.

The websites of the related credit reporting companies are listed below.

Experian - www.experian.com
Equifax - www.investigate.equifax.com
TransUnion - www.transunion.com

 If I want to exclude my name from the list of the credit reporting companies for insurance and unsolicited offers, what should I do?

When you are fed up with some pre-approved offers for insurance and unsolicited credit, you may request the credit reporting companies to remove your name from the list.

What is meant by credit score?

Indeed, credit score is a kind of score that is calculated using different mathematical formulae and expressions based on the information present in a credit file. This credit score would be used by the moneylenders to assess your ability to repay the loan. They would use the score to assess the risk of lending money to you and would then give you the loan at a suitable rate of interest and repayment period. Normally, the risk of lending money to people would be lower when the credit score report is higher.

 What should I do in order to get the credit score?

If you want to get your credit score, you may visit any of the three credit reporting companies after you get the free annual report for your credit. On your request and payment, they would give you the credit score.

 How can I contact Federal Trade Commission?

You may either visit the website of the organization via www.ftc.gov/credit or visit the office or it. The address is shown below.

Federal Trade Commission
Consumer Response Center
Room 130
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20580

 As a consumer, where can I learn more about credit reports?

You may visit www.ftc.gov the official website of the Federal Trade Commission.

Some companies claim that they could help to restore the credits. Is that true?

According to the FTC, which is the Federal Trade Commission, most of the companies that claim to improve the credit report of the clients are not reliable. It is actually not so possible for people to improve the credit report with the help of such companies. Usually referred to as credit clinics, they often provide you with advice you would easily have found for yourself on the internet. There are some warning signs that people could pay attention to when they receive some advertisements about improving credits.

First, if the organization claims that they could help people to remove the record of late payment or bankruptcy and other such information from your credit report. Secondly, if the companies ask for a lot of money in order to help the clients to restore the credits, they are definitely cheaters. Besides, if a company asks people to give them the credit report and then continuingly write to the credit bureaus asking to verify their identities and other credit information, they are most probably committing fraud and you should never trust them. If the company does not wish to disclose its name or address, you should avoid them.

If you want to repair your credit with reliable ways, you may write to the FTC. The address is Sixth and Pennsylvania Avenues, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004. You are advised to use the title of “Credit Repair: Self Help May Be Best” if you wish to get the suitable help from the authority.

What can I do to get more help for credit repair?

You may visit the credit repair page of the FTC, which is http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre13.shtm

If I want to know more about identity theft, what can I do?

You may visit the Identity Theft Center in the website of the FTC, which is www.ftc.gov.

Is there any option available for visually impaired people who wish to request their credit report in a different format?

Sure. People with impaired vision may receive the credit report in Large Print, Braille or Audio Format. If you want the Audio Format, you may call 877-322-8228, which is toll free. As long as you can verify that you are visually impaired or blind, you could get the option to choose different formats of receiving the reports. Different documents and other personal information might be required to verify the same.

The U.S. Post Office service would deliver the report to your home within 15 days if you request a written format. Of course, you can also use the internet and visit annualcreditreport.com in order to find the necessary report. You could login to your account and choose to get a detailed report from any of the credit reporting companies viz. Equifax Information Services LLC, Experian, and/or TransUnion LLC. You would be directed to these websites to carry on with your request.

Security FAQs

Is my information secured?

We know that the security of information of our client is important. Therefore, we work hard to protect the information of the client. When you try to use the internet service to get the free credit report, various programs would encrypt the data that you provide before it would be transferred to the site of the credit reporting companies. This is one of the most important steps in securing online transactions. Once the data has reached the sites of the credit bureaus, it would be decrypted and read by the credit reporting companies in order to provide the necessary report for you. In this process, no other third parties would view the information.

If you want to know the details about the protection of your private information during the request of the report, you may visit secured portals. It is also extremely important that you never access any credit websites through unsecured means. To ensure proper protection and privacy, always ensure that the URL of the credit site you are visiting begins with https. Such security protocols have been put in place mainly so that any relevant information pertaining to a consumer is safeguarded and prevented from any unauthorized access.

Would it be safe for me to give my Social Security Number to IdCredit.com?

In fact, using the Social Security number to verify your identity is a must in order to get your free report. Your information is free from unauthorized access and no one other than the credit reporting company would be able to view the information.

If you want higher security, you may choose to display only the last four digit of your number in the credit report. This gives extra protection for your number. Since we value your security, we undertake all the necessary means and measures to protect your personal information. In case you lose your report accidentally, other people would not have the chance to view your Social Security number because you can choose the option of displaying only 4 digits.

How does the online authentication process work for me?

The credit reporting companies would use methods to authenticate your identity. They would use the social security number provided by you as well as various other methods for the authentication process. You also need to answer several questions about yourself in order to gain access to the online credit report. If you fail to verify yourself, you would not be able to access these online reports. Instead, you would need to use the Postal Service to get the report. However, if you fail to do the authentication, it is not an indication of identity theft. Therefore, you do not need to worry just because you failed to authenticate your identity online.

I am told to type characters from some pictures before I submit my personal data, why?

This is something commonly used by websites or programs online nowadays. By typing the letters, the websites would know that you are real human instead of automated programs. This can ensure your data would not be downloaded by someone who does not have your authorization to get access to the data.

If I want to learn more about how to guard against internet fraud, what should I do?

You may visit OnGuardOnline.gov because it provides numerous useful tips about how to protect your private information. There are also tips for you to get rid of phishing scams and increase the security of your computer.

What does it mean by proxy websites and what should I do to guard myself against them?

Proxy websites would record user information by disguising itself to look like a popular website. There is a chance that these websites would store the information that you type and your private information may be kept in the server of these websites. If you do not want to be recorded by the proxy sites, you may directly visit the credit website and bookmark it so that you do not need to type the URL again in the next visit. The best way to avoid such proxy sites is by directly typing in the URL.

 

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