Have You Been a Victim of Identity Theft?

Have you ever endured identity theft? If so, what a mess, right?! It can be such a stressful situation. There are steps you can take to block fraudulent information from being reported on your SageStream Consumer Report and/or your LexisNexis Consumer Disclosure Report.

Another step you can take if you think someone has stolen your identity and trying to obtain your consumer report and credit score without your express authorization is to place a security freeze. By law each of these companies must freeze and unfreeze your credit file upon request and must do so at no charge to you.

The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. By freezing your consumer reports you can prevent fraudsters from opening new credit accounts in your name.

You can apply for a security freeze free of charge from SageStream, LLC is now part of LexisNexis® Risk Solutions.

You can request your credit reports from the big three companies, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Federal law allows you to get a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each credit reporting company. Requesting your report will not affect your credit score. In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, you can now request your credit reports for free weekly from each of the these companies through December 2023. Check each report for any inaccuracies and fraud. Don’t be a victim of identity theft. Many sites claim to be able to give you a credit report, but the only one directed by Federal Law is AnnualCreditReport.com. Go to annualcreditreport.com

Remember to request the freeze to be lifted when you are clear of the problem.

Dispute information on your consumer report if you believe it is inaccurate.

Cutting Out the Junk Mail Gives You More Control

Do you just love getting all that junk mail with credit and insurance offers? LOL! Not me! Did you know that you can cut the amount of that particular junk mail? This helps to keep your personal information more secure. The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows these companies to include your name and address on prescreen lists used by creditors and insurers in order to send you “junk mail”. You can elect to Opt-Out and have your name and address removed from such prescreen lists, specifically compiled by SageStream by requesting to opt-out and from OptOut Prescreen which is the official Consumer Credit Reporting Industry website to accept and process requests from consumers to Opt-In or Opt-Out of firm offers of credit or insurance. Doing so, will allow you to permanently opt-out from receiving these unsolicited offers of credit or insurance. That’s such good news!

Removing your name and address from prescreen lists does not affect your ability to apply for or obtain credit or insurance. Keep in mind, you may continue to receive offers from sources that do not use SageStream to compile their prescreen lists.

Future Will Be Better

If identity theft has happened to you, I hope this advice will help you to clear your credit reports. I am not an attorney and this information is for information only and not guaranteed to fix your credit.