Such incidents happen on consistent basis in the world of internet. But, the regular occurrence of these incidents doesn’t quality to the fact that you must bag the idea of buying over the internet. You must shop from online stores to your heart’s content but you must never forget that the credit card fraud is one of the most popular global crimes. Even though the credit card fraud is common but you can always save yourself from becoming a victim of credit card fraud and identity theft by taking precautions. In fact, keying in your card information on an encrypted website is safer than most other ways of shopping.

There was a time when people were not aware of online identity theft but they got familiar with it when many companies started the patchwork. Today, identity theft have become quite common but you can still take some steps to keep your self out of the list of those people who lost their credit card information in a credit card fraud. Following are few of the important points to keep in mind to use internet without worrying about credit card fraud and identity theft.

• The most important thing is to shop from right sites. Never enter your credit card details to an unencrypted page otherwise your information would be gone in a split second.

• Build a habit of getting in touch with your bank officials to know the condition of your credit card. Many people don’t collect information about their credit cards for long time and get a shock of their life when find that their credit card is being used by someone else.

• If you receive an email from your credit card company asking for specific information, you will be better off discarding it. Always keep in mind that companies don’t ask for financial information in emails. Even if you are curious to know the reason behind an email, it is better to make a phone call in their office to talk over the whole thing.

• Spend some time over the internet to educate yourself about the ways being used by identity thieves to steal your credit card and other personal information. Awareness is extremely important to fight with identity theft.

The fact of the matter is that fighting with identity theft and credit card fraud is not an easy job. You need to educate yourself about the whole process of identity theft and identity protection. Along with educating yourself, you need to be vigilant enough to identify a credit card fraud. Just keep aforementioned points in mind and you will always be able to stay away from falling prey to the trap set by these con artists.

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. Identity theft protection must be practice and fraud alert is just one of the few steps you can take.

The reality is that once you have discovered that you have been the victim of identity theft you must contact the three major credit reporting agencies.  The first step that these agencies will take is to put a fraud alert on your credit report so that no further fraudulent transactions can occur involving your accounts and your credit report.

After you have taken the immediate action that need to be undertaken in the aftermath of identity theft, you then need to file specific reports with each agency pertaining to the erroneous information an individual credit report.  Normally this takes the form of an affidavit on which you assert that a particular entry or entries within a credit report are the result of you having been the victim of identity theft.

While it can take some time for the incorrect entries to be corrected and removed from a credit report, when it is done you will be able to see an improvement in your overall credit report and credit score.  You will be able to get your credit report back into the position that it would be in had you not been the victim of identity theft.  Obviously, you necessarily desire to get your credit report back in the position that it should have been in had you not had to face the prospect of identity theft.

You do need to keep in mind that you need to be persistent when it comes to cleaning up and correcting your credit report following having been the victim of identity theft.  While it is regrettable, there are instances in which reports filed in the aftermath of identity theft can fall through the cracks.  However, by staying on top of the situation you will be able to ensure that your own credit report with each of the agencies gets corrected and cleaned up as soon as possible. Proactive credit protection should be practice in preventing Identity theft.