Lifelock Blog – Identity Theft Protection and LifeLock Reviews

Identity theft has proved to be an ever-growing problem. The top-most method of getting control over it is by receiving notification as soon a credit card or even a bank loan application is made under your personal information. Of course, you can monitor you credit report at a regular basis, but a more helpful step is to request the three prime credit bureaus for placing a fraud alert under your personal account,

Fraud Alert defined
Now the question comes- What is fraud alert? Fraud alerts are those red-flags installed to your credit reports, so that as soon as any probable fraud is detected involving your account you will be notified.

How does a fraud alert protect my credit
After the beginning the fraud alert, if anyone tries applying for a new credit card or try to take a bank loan, or any other activity falling in the credit category, you will be asked to confirm whether the request is authorized. To know more about the entire procedure relating to a fraud alert read on.

How do I place a fraud alert
Firstly, place a call to each of the credit bureaus for activating the fraud alert. It is recommended that you call using your cell phone, as this will insure a constant communication and the creditors can reach you anytime. There you request them to activate the fraud alert service and this will be done within the next 24 hours. Following, you will receive a confirmation mail about the successful activation. Additionally, for the protection of your account, services like credit and insurance offers that come in your junk mail, with be terminated for the next two years after you request fraud alert.

Be sure to renew every three months
The fraud alerts on your account will then be turned on for the next three months. It does not possess the nature of getting renewed by itself, so it will be turned into off mode automatically after the completion of three months. Furthermore, if you find yourself wanting to apply it for another three months, you will need to request the credit bureaus again for activation. Bear in mind that this needs to be done after every three months, so that the fraud alert remains flagged.

Credit protection services offer even more protection
If all this sounds like more than you want to tackle or keep up with, then you may wish to try one of the  protection services like TrustedID, Lifelock, or Debix- the three top rated identity protection companies. Being their clients, you not only gain advantage from the automatic renewal of fraud alerts, but you will also have the 24/7 monitoring services. They monitor individual credit reports, and notify of any dubious acts, as well as if unnatural activity is undergoing your account.

Fraud alerts do not protect all accounts
Fraud alerts definitely sound like an incredible idea, but wait there are a few cons involved.

Fraud alerts are solely applicable to new account, meaning that accounts opened before the fraud alert are unprotected. This also means that your bank information and other credit cards also need to be monitored.

While there are some negatives to renewing the fraud alerts every three months, a bad account may stay on your credit report for up to seven years.  Be sure to inform the credit bureau that you are placing the fraud alert for protection.  This will inform them that you are monitoring your credit situation.