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.

Here are 3 ways to report phishing:

First, you can report phishing to the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG). The APWG is a volunteer organization focused on eliminating the fraud and identity theft resulting from phishing, pharming and email spoofing of all types. Note that premium members include VISA, Yahoo and eBay. The APWG is currently building an archive of phishing scam emails and websites to help people identify and avoid being scammed in the future.

If you have received a phishing email, copy the entire phishing mail and send to reportphishing@antiphishing.org. Do not forward the phishing email as this approach loses information and requires more manual processing. The APWG will then review the message and any websites to which it links and post it to the Phishing archive.

Another way is to report phishing to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC is a federal agency that works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. You can file a complaint at the FTC website (http://www.ftc.gov/idtheft) or call their toll-free hotline (1-877-ID THEFT).You can also choose to send mail to spam@uce.gov. Make sure to copy the entire phishing mail into your email.

It’s also recommended to report phishing to the company that is being imitated. You can send an email or call by telephone. If the phishing concerns eBay or PayPal, copy the phishing email and send to spoof@ebay or spoof@paypal. The relevant department will then attempt to get the phishing site shut down. Your report is crucial as it will enable the company to warn its customers not to respond to any requests for personal information.

By taking a few minutes out of your time to report phishing, you can also help other people be more aware about the scams. Moreover, you can help the companies/organizations track down phishers and eventually take them down. All in all, by making the simple task of reporting phishing, you end up not only protecting yourself from this scam but others as well.

It’s generally a helpful tool but some problems might arise such as frozen/closed accounts and identity fraud. In order to prevent these problems, here are some tips:

First, make sure you read and follow the rules stated in the PayPal Terms of Service (TOS). If you violate the PayPal TOS, your account may be frozen or closed. Some of these violations include selling electronic equipment, artifacts, event tickets and games software. There are over 39 categories in PayPal’s Acceptable Use Policy so it’s best to check the list.

Second, awareness of scams concerning PayPal is vital. The most common PayPal scam involves identity fraud via email. To not fall prey to this scam, there are some signs that you should look out for.

For example, the email claims to be from PayPal requesting you to verify your information. Often the email will be sent to an email address that is not the same one PayPal has on file. Moreover, the email has forged headers, greets you with “Dear PayPal user/member”, or threatens to suspend your account if you don’t take immediate action.  Another sign would be if you click on the email link and you are led to a non-secure page (no https in the URL and no little padlock in the lower left hand corner of your browser).

Another common scam preys on World of Warcraft players who buy/sell items with real money. While using real money is already banned by Blizzard, there are some that cannot avoid it. Basically in this scam, you are sent a false PayPal proof of payment. So when you hand over whatever you were trying to sell, the scammer then gets your stuff for free.

Apart from being aware of these scams, it’s also wise to be more proactive in terms of protecting your PayPal account.

First, make sure that you use an effective password, one with a good mix of letters/numbers/lower and uppercase, less easy to translate and at least 8 letters long. It’s also recommended to change this password frequently (like every month). Another suggestion to keep your account safe is to never go to PayPal from your email account. It’s also a good idea to keep a record of PayPal account actions offline as well as to print out and keep in file all PayPal receipts.

When you follow the rules stated in the PayPal TOS, when you are aware of scams and proactive in keeping your account safe, then having a pleasant problem-free PayPal experience is a guarantee.  Get protected. Get LifeLock Identity theft protection.