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[F564]Fraud Alert Identity Theft

by Bernard Pragides, Ber

Note: You have a one in ten chance of becoming the victim of identity theft this year. With this in mind, you need to make sure that you take all reasonable steps available to you to protect yourself from becoming the victim of identity theft. With this in mind, if you have detected that you may have become the victim of identity theft, one of the initial steps that you will want to take in response is to put a fraud alert on your credit reports. You will want to contact the three major credit reporting agencies and have them flag your accounts with these fraud alerts. This is very important as a first line of identity theft defense on your part. All it takes is to make that very important phone call to the credit bureaus. Do it before it is too late. Every moment is crucial.

Fraud alerts do serve a very helpful purpose when it comes to protecting you from become a victim of identity theft or becoming re-victimized by an identity theft. When you ask the credit reporting agencies to place a fraud alert on your credit reports, when an attempt is made by an identity thief to open up new credit accounts in your name, the financial institution from which the credit or loan is being sought will see the credit alert and will proceed accordingly. For example, rather than issue a new credit card to the identity thief in your name, the financial institution will put the whole process on hold until the time that it can confirm that it really is you who is seeking this extension of credit – in this case, a credit card.

Despite the definite importance of fraud alerts, these alerts simply are not enough to clean up after you have become the victim of identity theft or to protect you from becoming the victim of identity theft in the future. Fraud alerts are one weapon in your arsenal that can be a part of your overall effort at responding to and preventing identity theft. You must do everything in your power and avail of all resources to protect yourself from this very dangerous crime of Identity theft. These thieves are out there targeting innocent victims, in fact there are thousands of people who are already victims without their knowledge.

For example, if you have been the victim of identity theft, in addition to seeking and obtaining fraud alerts you absolutely must also file an appropriate police report. Moreover, you must notify each and every financial or similar type of institution or business through which you have an account. You need to make these types of individual notifications in the aftermath of becoming the victim of identity theft.

If you have not been the victim of identity theft per se, fraud alerts also represent one line of defense that can be helpful to you. But, you must maintain a vigilant and comprehensive approach to doing everything possible to protect your identity.

Mortgage fraud through identity theft is the second most common mortgage fraud scheme. The FTC reported in 2004 that $429 million dollars in damages for home mortgage fraud hoaxed and approximately $1.1 million dollars lost on commercial loans.

Mortgage fraud through identity theft occurs in several different ways. First a person may apply for a loan for a new home or for a home equity loan using your personal and financial information. The home equity loan is most often on the house that you are residing in, thus making this the easiest hoax to commit. Knowledge of an individual's date of birth, social security number, as well as address makes it easy for victimization to occur.

Secondly, mortgage fraud may occur in a fake sale of your home. One thief will assume your identity and ?sell? the property to another thief. With mortgage loan money in hand, both thieves get away and no real sale occurs. However, there have been instances where the homeowner's identity was stolen and the home was sold to a legitimate buyer and the thief gets away with the money, the buyers have no new home and the original homeowner is left with the messy business of re-establishing his identity and his credit.

In most cases, the banks are the ones most damaged by these types of schemes. A legitimate homeowner did not take out the loan, so may not be held liable, but they don't get off with out any damage at all. Many hours and much money may be required to correct the credit problems that are a result of identity theft, particularly when the theft results in large sums of money being stolen. Then there is the additional effort to protect their future credit and personal information.

Those most likely to be victims of mortgage fraud are the elderly, established homeowners, and those who have a great deal of equity in their homes. Equity information is readily available through an online title search and the use of tracking property values in the area.

Homeowners need to do the following to protect their homes and their credit.

- Monitor your credit report, receive regular updates, and stay informed;

- Immediately contact any lenders that provide information on your credit report when you discover pieces of information that are mistakes of fact or that you don't know or recognize;

- Read your social security benefits statement when it comes in the mail to determine if anyone has already claimed your benefits.

- Be wary of communications regarding your home, real estate, personal or mortgage information including special ?offers? to help you with your mortgage or interest rate.

- You may need to educate your parents or other elderly individuals with their credit protection plans.

- Install an anti virus and spyware software system on your computer to protect your personal and financial information.

Early detection and reporting of mortgage fraud schemes is important. With mortgage fraud, consumers may lose their property, their savings, and their credit rating. Secondly, lenders are affected by the loss of money, security, and assets in their company, not to mention the lack of trust resulting from these types of rackets.

If a victim of this type of crime, it should be reported to The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) http://www.fbi.gov/ (202) 324-3000 ? National FBI Financial Institution Fraud Unit. However, there are a possible 18 other government agencies, banking, consumer, and fraud reporting agencies as well as other consumer resources available to consumers depending on the type and method of mortgage fraud that occurred. For a complete list of resources, visit Mortgage News Daily http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/Mortgage_Fraud/National_Resources.asp

Consumers can try to stop identity theft before it happens by being forewarned and vigilant. If you are a victim of identity theft, in particular mortgage fraud you will have the information you need to correctly and quickly report the theft and take the steps necessary to begin to repair your credit.

Article Source : Pg. 195

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Both Bernard Pragides & Lisa Carey are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Bernard Pragides has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, Pearls and Credit Cards. . Bernard Pragides's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.

Lisa Carey has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, Shopping and Computer Virus. Lisa Carey is a contributing author for . You can get tips on Identity theft protection, software, and monitorin. Lisa Carey's top article generates over 9900 views. to your Favourites.