Question:
I got a letter from my credit card company saying I need to send in information to verify it for my application and I spoke to a person in the bank and the person said that she thinks someone might be using my social security because credit card companies normally do not ask for that information. This is also the first time I applied for a credit card.
Answers:
I would contact the three credit reporting agencies and put a 'fraud alert' on your credit reports. This means that when a company is considering an application for credit from you, or someone pretending to be you, they must contact you before granting any type of credit. If you alert the agencies about potential fraud/identity theft, they will put this alert on your credit report for 3 months for free and send you your credit reports for free so you can review them. (The alert does not affect your score or reflect negatively on you. It just lets creditors know you may potentially be a victim of identity theft.) After the 3 months, you can call and have them continue the alert if you want.
And, if you find that someone IS using your SSN, then you need to file a police report immediately!
Contact Social Security ASAP Tell them of your suspicions. Ask to have a new number issued to protect yourself from Identity theft call all your credit card companies and warm them of this activity. File an official report with Identity theft credit Bureau.
Sometimes credit card companies send out letters like this in order to try to obtain your informaiton for the first time. However, you can never be to careful about these matters. I would check your credit report at all three of the major credit agencies: TransUnion, Equifax, Experian. There are lots of ways to obtain a free credit report for one month. There are even sites that will continuously moniter your credit report and email you when anything changes, that's what I have. Check out freecreditreport.com I think that site shows you one of your reports free for a month and then you are able to cancel it if you don't want to have to start paying for the service monthly. Good luck to you!
Joy is 200% correct in her answer.
However, to get a copy of your credit report, don't go to ANY of the " free sites " offering a credit report for free...these are actually finance companies that are trying to get a copy of your report in order to offer you a loan; these actually hit your score the same as if you directly applied fo the loan.
Go DIRECTLY to the website for Experian, Equifax, and Transunion...and watch out for pop-ups along the way that may take you off the site.
If you think you have been a victim of fraud, the repositories will still give you a free copy of your report.
contact social security administration and have them investigate possible fraud. do this asap as there is far more at stake than just your banking situation. this is a free service.
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