Back in February, I remember watching a report on 60 Minutes titled 40 Million Mistakes: Is your credit report accurate? The piece focused on a study that indicated that as many as 40 million consumers have a mistake on their credit reports. Correspondent Steve Kroft talked to several individuals who discussed just how hard it is to get any of the credit bureaus to fix mistakes, especially Experian. Now, I'm actually someone who checks their credit report quite often.
Let's start off here with a look into one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States to date, identity theft. In order to properly and effectively monitor your credit report and your identity it is absolutely critical that you first understand identity theft from the traditional methods, all the way up to the more sophisticated digital, or on line methods. The idea here being that an identity thief is less apt to try and exploit a population of consumers that are well informed. Here are some statistics that will help you build a more broad understanding of the epidemic:
Like previously mentioned, identity theft is in fact the fastest growing crime in the United States today. The Federal Trade Commission reported that the number of identity theft occurrences exceeded over 9 million last year. Looking at it from more of a micro point of view, it is estimated that roughly 19 consumers will fall victim to this crime every minute. On the average, it is approximated that it will take the average casualty 500 dollars and upwards of 30 hours to straighten out each individual account where an identity theft has occurred.
Step 1 - Selecting which type of credit report you have. PROBLEM 1 - the annual credit report doesn't have a report number. After doing some Google research it seems that some Experian free annual reports print with the number while others don't. Mine didn't have the number, so I selected that option. You also must have a report that is no older than 90 days if you want to open a dispute, otherwise you'll need to purchase a new one (more on that below). Step 2 - I was then asked to select which of the reports my report looked like.
When I did that, I was again asked for the non existing report number. After more Googling, I learned that tons of consumers have had the same problem and gotten absolutely no where online. They were forced to call in for assistance. Something I was very hesitant about after watching the piece showing all calls being routed to Mumbai. Step 3- They win, I decided to just purchase a $1.00 7 day free trial so that I could have a fresh report with a report number. Now this is going to be easy right? Step 4 - Wrong! After receiving my new report, I returned back to the dispute site and selected the option that I had a credit report number.
After entering the number I was instructed that "online disputes are not available for your account due to security precautions, please call our customer service team for assistance". UGH! Step 5 - I thought this would be the most difficult part of the process, but it was quite painless. As a current customer (remember that 7 day free trial), I was routed right away to an agent and told them that I wanted to open a dispute, but was not able to online. The agent was definitely American and he seemed apologetic and happy to help. He asked what exactly I wanted to dispute and had me hold for about three minutes. He then came back and said that I should receive an email response within 14-21 days. I didn't expect much and after reading other horror stories, I anticipated calling back in after three weeks passed.
Note, there are some pretty horrible stories about getting an agent on the phone who can actually assist if you're rejected online...unless you are a "current customer", not one who has accessed your report via annualcreditreport or via a 3rd party website. It's probably worth the $1 trial, to avoid this just remember to cancel before the 7 days are up, it doesn't impact the investigation.
By taking advantage of a qualified and experienced credit monitoring agency, you can be sure your financial assets and monies are in good hands. You'll also benefit from the advantages mentioned above. The more in tune the consumer is with identity theft and the calculated criminals that take part in it, the better they will be able to sequester both them and their families from the devastation that goes along with it. Bringing on a credit repair agency to protect the very financial foundation of the consumer and their family would be a decision that only a well-informed and wise individual would initiate.
Let's start off here with a look into one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States to date, identity theft. In order to properly and effectively monitor your credit report and your identity it is absolutely critical that you first understand identity theft from the traditional methods, all the way up to the more sophisticated digital, or on line methods. The idea here being that an identity thief is less apt to try and exploit a population of consumers that are well informed. Here are some statistics that will help you build a more broad understanding of the epidemic:
Like previously mentioned, identity theft is in fact the fastest growing crime in the United States today. The Federal Trade Commission reported that the number of identity theft occurrences exceeded over 9 million last year. Looking at it from more of a micro point of view, it is estimated that roughly 19 consumers will fall victim to this crime every minute. On the average, it is approximated that it will take the average casualty 500 dollars and upwards of 30 hours to straighten out each individual account where an identity theft has occurred.
Step 1 - Selecting which type of credit report you have. PROBLEM 1 - the annual credit report doesn't have a report number. After doing some Google research it seems that some Experian free annual reports print with the number while others don't. Mine didn't have the number, so I selected that option. You also must have a report that is no older than 90 days if you want to open a dispute, otherwise you'll need to purchase a new one (more on that below). Step 2 - I was then asked to select which of the reports my report looked like.
When I did that, I was again asked for the non existing report number. After more Googling, I learned that tons of consumers have had the same problem and gotten absolutely no where online. They were forced to call in for assistance. Something I was very hesitant about after watching the piece showing all calls being routed to Mumbai. Step 3- They win, I decided to just purchase a $1.00 7 day free trial so that I could have a fresh report with a report number. Now this is going to be easy right? Step 4 - Wrong! After receiving my new report, I returned back to the dispute site and selected the option that I had a credit report number.
After entering the number I was instructed that "online disputes are not available for your account due to security precautions, please call our customer service team for assistance". UGH! Step 5 - I thought this would be the most difficult part of the process, but it was quite painless. As a current customer (remember that 7 day free trial), I was routed right away to an agent and told them that I wanted to open a dispute, but was not able to online. The agent was definitely American and he seemed apologetic and happy to help. He asked what exactly I wanted to dispute and had me hold for about three minutes. He then came back and said that I should receive an email response within 14-21 days. I didn't expect much and after reading other horror stories, I anticipated calling back in after three weeks passed.
Note, there are some pretty horrible stories about getting an agent on the phone who can actually assist if you're rejected online...unless you are a "current customer", not one who has accessed your report via annualcreditreport or via a 3rd party website. It's probably worth the $1 trial, to avoid this just remember to cancel before the 7 days are up, it doesn't impact the investigation.
By taking advantage of a qualified and experienced credit monitoring agency, you can be sure your financial assets and monies are in good hands. You'll also benefit from the advantages mentioned above. The more in tune the consumer is with identity theft and the calculated criminals that take part in it, the better they will be able to sequester both them and their families from the devastation that goes along with it. Bringing on a credit repair agency to protect the very financial foundation of the consumer and their family would be a decision that only a well-informed and wise individual would initiate.
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