Protecting Your Credit Record

Entrepreneurs rely on their personal and business credit report to seek funding and grow their businesses. Protecting your credit record is crucial to staying in business. If your identity were stolen and your good credit is used fraudulently it will have a devastating and lasting impact on your ability to obtain credit or even do simple things such as open a bank account.

These are the things you can do to keep your credit record out of the hands of those who would use it to hurt you and your small business.

1. PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY:

Use an Identity Theft Monitoring Service to monitor your personal information 24/7, quickly alert you to threats. Some of these services provide added services such as legal assistance to go after those try to steal and use your identity. Sign up to Identity Theft Monitoring.

-All Clear ID

-Equifax ID Patrol

2. LOCK DOWN CREDIT REPORTS:

Locking down your credit report will prevent others from being able to successfully applying for a credit in your name or obtaining any form of credit in your name. In order for a lender to issue a credit or provide a loan they first check the credit report. Without access to the credit report they will not grant credit. Lock down each of the three credit reports here:

-Equifax (800-349-9960

-Experian (888-397-3742)

-TransUnion (888-909-8872)

3. KEEP AN EYE ON CREDIT CARD SPENDING:

Keep track of the charges on your credit cards. When you notice an unfamiliar charge investigate it. You can protest the charge with the credit card company.

4. KEEP TRACK OF CREDIT SCORE:

Monitoring your credit score lets you know when something changes so that you can investigate and resolve the issue before its too late to get it fixed. According to the federal government you're entitled to a free credit report once per year from the three credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion). Below are other sources for obtaining your credit report. Some are free and some will charge you a monthly fee.

-Annual Credit Report

-Credit Karma

-Credit Sesame

-Experian

-Federal Trade Commission

5. GET IDENTITY THEFT INSURANCE:

In the event that someone use your information to obtain credit you could be reimburse through identity theft insurance. It covers cost for things such as restoring identity, repairing credit reports, phone bills, lost wages, travel expenses, notary, attorney fees, etc. There a number of service providers that provide identity theft insurance. They also provide other services in addition to identity theft insurance.

-Equifax ID Patrol

-Travelers Insurance

-West Bend

-Zander Insurance Group

6. USE A CROSS SHREDDER:

Use a cross-cut shredder to shred any paperwork you no longer need that contains your child’s personal information. If you don't want to buy a shredder you can take the documents to a shredding service at Office Depot/Office Max or FedEx Office.

-FedEx Office

-Office Depot/Office Max

7. FILE YOUR TAX RETURN EARLY:

Don't let thieves file before you do. Filing early will stop others successfully filing in your name later.

8. GET YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY EARNING INFORMATION REPORT:

Getting an Information Earning Report from the Social Security Administration verifies that your social security number is not being used fraudulently. Start by creating a "My Social Security Account".