Credit Monitoring Services And How They Are Helping to Prevent Identity Theft

Identity theft is an extremely dangerous and scary scenario. Imagine going to use your debit or credit card and having it declined - even though you know there are funds available, or trying to apply for a loan and getting denied based on a low credit score despite never having missed a payment. Fast forward to contacting your financial institutions or receiving a credit report and learning that you have tons of outstanding debt and mountains of missed card payments for items that you didn't buy, do not own, and never opened. That's identity theft.

Prevention is Key

While credit checks and credit monitoring services cannot outright prevent or stop identity theft from occurring, they act as extremely beneficial walls of protection. With daily monitoring of credit files, these services watch for certain activity and, when detected, send an alert to the customer. This quick response gives you the ability to quickly confirm the activity was your own or take action if you suspect fraud. When it comes to ID theft protection, services like this one available from http://www.identityguard.com/ provide users with a great way to fight back against people trying to assume their identities or finances.

Who Would Want My Identity?

When it comes down to it, the answer is that there are many people that would love to have access to the identity of someone else. Maybe they're trying to make a large purchase, but don't have the funds. Maybe they can't get approved for a loan with their own low credit score, and think that giving your social security number and name will give them a better chance at obtaining the loan. They could also be illegal immigrants that don't have their own United States identities or Social Security numbers, meaning that they are extremely limited in the financial accounts and forms that they can fill out - using your information will make it easier for them to get jobs, cars and credit cards. The people that want your identity know that by pretending to be someone else, essentially stealing from them, that they will have a better chance of success in obtaining things, as well as a greater likelihood of having access to fast cash and credit card accounts.

Credit monitoring services are meant to give people a more in-depth look into their finances. They provide information to consumers about what is going on with their identities, and alert them when certain types of transactions or events occur under their names. This is helpful, informative and can serve as a fantastic way to provide people with the peace of mind that they need when it comes to ID theft protection.