I had my students pull up their credit report for an assignment a few monthss ago and they were supposed to write a report on what they found. One of my students got a very unpleasant experience when he pulled up his report because he found out that someone had been using his personal information to get credit accounts set up.

It actually turned out to be a family member who know his information and had opened  a series of credit cards using that person’s name.

The victim noticed a few cards that did not belong to him and because of what he had learned in class he immediately contacted the credit bureau to dispute the charges and the accounts. The investigation turned up information that linked the accounts to a mailing address that he recognized and he found out who had used his information.

The victim is now still dealing with the credit report companies because he is not on good speaking terms with the person who stole his identity. He placed credit freezes on his account and is getting the accounts sorted out and the person is now being investigated for fraud.

It is important to continue to monitor your credit report because even if you don’t personally use credit you never know what is going on with your information. Even if you think that your credit is safe you should still the opportunity to look up your credit report when you can. You are able to do this free from the annual credit report site that gives you one free credit report every year.

One of these sites happens to be Transunion, which allows you to see one of your credit reports every twelve months. The site is easy to use and on the page that I linked to you can find most of the information that you need. It tells you thinks like

-what your credit report really is

-how to correct inaccuracies you may find on your report

-how long it takes for items to drop off your credit report

-what affects your credit report

-how to improve your credit

By monitoring your credit report and your credit score you are taking control of your credit destiny and you can be aware of any changes that may occur in a timely manner.