Identityfraudresources.com

Who Needs An Annual Credit Report?

The Annual Credit Report (annual credit score), is an industry all upon itself. Identity Theft and Fraud on the internet has propelled credit theft into the limelight, and as a result, an entire cottage industry has emerged.

Everywhere you turn, you cannot help but be exposed to some media commercial advertising a “free annual credit report” or a “free credit check”.

Then there are the websites we just cannot avoid. There is free credit report.com, my free annual credit report com, creditreport com and so on. The annual credit score sector is simply blossoming.

A Modern Day Annual Credit Report Dilemma

What did we do before the arrival of this new industry? Using someone’s credit ratings instead of your own is nothing new. Today, it is almost made impossible to avoid by some current financial situations.

For example, a single mother on a fixed income, behind on her bills, may at some point use her child’s social security number to sign up for local utilities, rather than go without. A tough choice indeed. This is still considered credit theft, however, she’s safe because no one but herself or the child could request a 3 credit report for her child’s social security number. I doubt she’s going to do that!

A free credit score report gained through a free credit check would quickly expose the fraud if anyone was looking.

3 Recent FTC Identity Fraud Findings

A recent Federal Trade Commission study has reported that of 635,000 complaints registered with the agency, 61% involved fraud and 39% were identity theft complaints. This study also revealed the following:

• Credit card fraud was the most common form of identity theft, accounting for 28% of thefts reported.
• Phone or utilities fraud was next, accounting for 19 % of identity thefts reported.
• Bank fraud followed, accounting for 18% of identity thefts reported.

The FTC also presented some figures about identity theft committed over the Internet. Of 205,568 Internet-related complaints, 90 % of the identity fraud victims reported they had suffered a financial loss. The average loss was $1,440.

As noted, a full 90% of the Identity Theft Victims reported a financial loss, averaging approximately $1440! Not a small sum by any means, yet the financial loss was only the tip of the iceberg, signaling much larger hazards to come.

“The available resources in many instances will determine how an ID crime victim approaches his/her misfortune. Sadly, many victims cannot take the necessary actions to restore their good name, choosing instead to “leave it up to the authorities”, the exact action the thief was hoping for.”

Victims of credit theft endure all sorts of embarrassments and get blacklisted in many ways, because it is so difficult and time consuming to restore their identity. Simply requesting and viewing a free copy of their annual credit report may have given them an early enough heads-up, allowing them an opportunity to lessen the impact.