Watch out - Military Credit Theft
Those of us who serve in Americas military forces may be aware of some extra risks in life; it’s the unexpected ones that can hurt us. One such risk is the heightened risk for credit identity theft.
Douglas Aaron, a credit repair lawyer says, Military are often targeted by thieves for identity theft because most of the time they are absent from the country for extended periods of time. Criminals who go to the trouble of stealing other people’s information don’t like to be quickly shut down. Individuals who go on a tour-of-duty for over a year give just such an opportunity.
Once a criminal has obtained your particulars, including your social security number, name and birthday, they will start opening new lines of credit, taking personal loans and buying cellular service.
More sophisticated operations quickly add some form of photo ID for bank loans, automobiles or boats.
Anyway, returning home to a huge amount of bills or trying to make purchase with your credit only to realize it has been ruined by thieves is something no one should have to deal with. To add insult to injury, fixing the situation often requires months to a year or more to iron out all the problems created by this type of theft.
Cory Baker, a North Carolina resident said: “I served my country for two years, overseas. This was not the type of homecoming I was expecting. Proving in court that you didn’t make $7,000 in telephone bills to Greece is time consuming and very frustrating.”
Most of these kind of problems could have been prevented or stopped quicker with a little more attention to ones finances, especially monitoring ones credit history.
Knowing what is on our report, fixing and contesting errors, actively trying to increase your credit score is something we can all take the time to do, says Douglas Aaron. If you are not sure of your score, how will you know if it is in trouble?
At the very least, obtain your credit score today. Today’s economic problems require our attention; they demand we are ready for emergencies.
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