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Here are minimum credit card protection options you should consider:
Consumers are finding that identity theft is an increasing problem.
Almost 15 million people will fall victim to identity theft each
and every year. Typically a victim of identity theft will have to
spend at least 60 hours resolving the issues brought on by ID theft,
often causing them to miss time at work. According to the FTC, Identity
theft now costs businesses $48 billion dollars annually and the consumer
$5 billion dollars. Many options are now available to offer you a
guaranteed means for consumers to protect them selves from identity
theft. It's called a security freeze (or a credit freeze), here's
how it works.
A credit freeze quite simply stops identity thieves from getting
credit in your name. It locks access to your credit report and your
credit score from any business that requests it. Without this information,
there's no way that a business will issue any sort of credit to a
thief trying to use your name. This won't fully protect you, because
a few credit cards here and there that are so interested in offering
credit, that they don't check people's credit scores. These are the
companies that have a history of issuing pets and dead people credit
scores.
What happens when you want to take a loan? Does this mean you won't
be able to take out a loan in your name either? Fortunately the credit
industry has thought of a solution for this. You'll be given a special
pin number that you can use online to unlock your credit report and
credit score when you want to apply for a loan, or are part of any
business transaction that requires your credit score. After you have
completed the transaction, you can put the freeze back on your credit
report and credit score so that no one can get to it
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