Marino on Money: June 9

In tonight’s Marino on Money, Ross answers the question… How can you protect yourself against identity theft?

You should check your credit at least once per year. Go to annualcreditreport.com and request your credit report. You are entitled to one free report each year. But is here is a trick. There are three major credit agencies: Transunion, Experian, and Equifax.

Instead of ordering all three reports at once, try to stagger the requests. Order the first report from one provider, order the next in four months from another provider, and then request a report from the final provider. This allows you to check your credit once every four months instead of once per year. Keep in mind, your credit reports do not always look the same at the different agencies.

Creditors have some discretion in how they report your accounts, so some accounts may show on one report and not another.

If you are on active duty in the military, you have the option of placing an active duty alert on your credit report. This will help minimize the risk of identity theft while you are on duty. The alert is good for one year, and you have the option of extending it.

Tomorrow Ross will talk about protecting yourself from phisherman, but it has nothing to do about fish.