credit report - Your Credit Card was Stolen and You May Not Know

Your biggest concern about your credit cards is that they have gone missing. If and when this happens, what is your plan of action? do you have one? Well, you should. It is important to come up with a credit card action plan and it is not as daunting as it may appear. All reputable credit card companies have a set policy that helps to protect you against loss or theft. You just need to know how to get this policy to work in your favor. You fear you credit card may have been stolen? never fear, help is here! You first step should be to report that your card was stolen to the credit card company as soon as it is humanly possible. Fortunately for you, federal law dictates that you are only liable for the first $50.00 of any fraudulent charges made on a charge card. However, you are required by law to report a lost of stolen card when it occurs. You are not going to take a huge hit because of the federal regulations, but you must report it. Even if it is only for the fact that if you report the card stolen before any unauthorized charges were made, you won't even be liable for that $50.00 minimum. Also, as an incentive to get their card in your hands, many card issuers are waiving the minimum liability when they make their credit card offer to you. When the card is stolen, it is important that you monitor your credit card bills for any unauthorized charges. Further, you need to inform the credit card provider about these charges in writing. In this letter, you should ensure that you quote the date you reported the card stolen. Mail the letter separately, do not include it with your payment, it will get lost in processing Finally, the best way to avoid stolen or lost cards is to keep track of them. Know where they are at all times and keep your pin number a secret. Also, don't use a pin number that is easy to figure out such as your birth date or phone number. Make it a number that only makes sense to you and keep it that way. Burgess Xavier is a freelance writer. Protect yourself from credit card fraud and identity theft - browse his website where the most effective ways to protect yourself are revealed. They work, and they work fast. Visit the site now. Check out the Credit Card resource to protect your money and your identity http://www.Justintimeliving.com/credit-cards Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Burgess_Xavier credit report - Five Ways How A Credit Monitoring Service Can Help Post-Bankruptcy Individuals Rebuild Their Credit If you declared bankrupt and are rebuilding credit, it only makes sense that you should protect your credit report from predators who want to ruin your credit even further. And one great way you can do to protect your it is by using a credit monitoring service. How can it exactly help you rebuild your credit? Find out. If you are bankrupt and rebuilding credit, it will be helpful to monitor your progress as you add more positive information to your credit report. And one way to monitor your progress is by using a credit monitoring service. When you declared bankrupt, you know how hard it is to raise your credit score again. At this point you know that you should take extra care and precaution in keeping your credit score safe from, or else you might become the next victim of identity theft. Bankrupt or not, you don't want it to happen. But now that you are bankrupt, nothing will undermine your efforts in rebuilding your credit faster than having your identity stolen. While you can do the monitoring yourself, using a credit monitoring service can be advantageous in helping you recover from bankruptcy and rebuild your credit. Here are the following reasons. 1. Credit monitoring services usually monitor any inquiry made on your credit report and why. This helps you detect if there are any unauthorized activities being done under your name. 2. Credit monitoring services also monitor if there are any new accounts being opened in your name. One of the ways identity thieves use your information and leave you with debt is by getting a hold of your name, address and Social Security Number for them to open new accounts using your name, run up charges in that account and leave you with more debt. This delinquency will be reported on your credit report, which will hurt your credit score more. But by monitoring closely your credit file, you can protect yourself from the further damages of ID theft if you know once when someone has opened a new account in your name. 3. Credit monitoring services monitor if your mailing address on your credit card account has been changed. Identity thieves can change your mailing address, and have your statement sent to the new address so they can get more of your financial information like your credit card numbers, and run up charges on your account. And because those statements are sent to the new address, it will take long before you become aware of it. Through a credit monitoring service, you will monitor of there were changes to your mailing address. 4. Credit monitoring services monitor if there has been an increase on your credit card limit. Identity thieves can also request for an increase on your credit card and run up charges on your account. This can in turn leave you with large debt and a worse credit score if you cannot pay it on time. 5. Credit monitoring services are very convenient because you are just a mouse click away from accessing your credit report, instead of monitoring your progress yourself. This makes it a time saver as well, especially if you choose to have their email alerts delivered to your inbox on a daily basis whenever a change happens to your credit report. This will make it easier for you to see if there are any inaccurate information being added so you can correct them as soon as possible, which can help improve your credit score. So you see, using a credit monitoring service offer many benefits to you if you are bankrupt and are rebuilding your credit. Just study what they offer and choose one that suits your needs best.