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Steps can help protect your credit score

Credit-protection companies have been popping up that promise to help you lock down your credit information and protect your identity. While these services can be valuable and worth the subscription fees and cash guarantees, there are steps proactive consumers can take to protect their personal credit information.

Here are a few options:

Fraud alerts

The main step credit-protection programs take is to activate a fraud alert on your credit profile at all three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. This action alerts creditors that they must verify your identity before opening any credit accounts, making it much more challenging (although not impossible) for any credit accounts to be opened in your name. The good news is you don’t have to pay a company to do it for you. You can activate a fraud alert on your own credit reports for free.

To create one of these fraud alerts, contact the three main credit bureaus for more information.

Equifax, (888)-766-0008 or visit www.equifax.com; Experian: (888)-EXPERIAN (397-3742) or www.experian.com; and TransUnion: (800)-680-7289 or www.transunion.com.

Opt-out list

To prevent credit card companies, insurance companies and others from pulling a “soft credit” report to determine if they want to send you a preapproved credit card or other offers, request that your name be removed from all preapproved credit offers and junk mailing lists.

Call (888)-5-OPTOUT (888-567-8688) or you can go to www.optoutprescreen.com online.

Free credit reports and monitoring

This is where credit-protection companies really earn their money. While you have the right to a free credit report from each of the three credit bureaus once a year, all subsequent credit reports will cost you. For a lot of consumers, monitoring their credit report once a year is simply not enough, and credit-protection companies that provide more frequent monitoring options as part of their service can create a peace of mind well worth the subscription fee. To get your free annual report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com.

Ultimately, it’s your responsibility to protect your credit.

Mike and Judy Malone are vice presidents and loan officers at Heartland Mortgage. They can be reached at mmalone@heartland-bank.com or 375-2265.



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