[EhJayKim]

So I want to start monitoring my credit, what is the best way to do this?

Thanks

 

[ecclesand]

The easiest way is thru a Credit Monitoring service. There are some pretty good Credit Monitoring companies out there that will notify you when someone pulls your credit report or posts negative information. A couple that come to mind are: Identity Guard and Privacy Guard. These services of course charge you an annual or monthly fee.

I go with the free approach. It requires a bit more work on my part, but I'm OK with it. My wife and my financial info was stolen several years ago and we went thru a bunch of crap getting everything cleaned up. When everything was cleared, we had Fraud Alerts placed with all 3 credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion). By law, you are allowed 1 free credit report from each of the 3 Credit Bureaus annually so you can use that to check if anyone has tapped your credit and is using it. With the Fraud Alerts and the annual Credit Reports, we have not had a problem since. If I wanted to keep a closer eye on it, I would opt for one of the Credit Monitoring services.

Good Luck!

 

[jsmithepa]

If yr in CAL, u should Freeze your Credit to Safeguard against Identity Theft.

 

[Nisbeth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecclesand /img/forum/go_quote.gif My wife and my financial info was stolen several years ago and we went thru a bunch of crap getting everything cleaned up.

So you did get her back?

/U.

Sorry, I couldn't resist that one

 

[ecclesand]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nisbeth /img/forum/go_quote.gif So you did get her back? /U. Sorry, I couldn't resist that one

Unfortunately...

I keed, I keed....

 

[jay.money]

I use Equifax. $25 or so will get you a detailed credit report. I do it annually around tax time.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Quote:

I use Equifax. $25 or so will get you a detailed credit report. I do it annually around tax time.

x2

Although I think one of the sites has a free basic credit report with just the score. Think its Experian.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

The BEST way is to get credit reports from all three credit-reporting companies (TransUnion, Experian, Equifax) on a regular basis and contact the companies to correct misinformation. If you have the option to "freeze" your credit, you should consider that option if you do not plan on financing a new car/house in the next few months. (You can always unfreeze later).

PS: Given the history of errors with credit reports I wouldn't consider a 'freeze' a 100% guarantee of anything. Keep on top of your reports!

EDIT: Yeah, what ecclesand said.

 

[randerson3024]

Checkout MyFICO.com. There is a charge, but you can get all three scores. In my profession, where I travel frequently, it is also nice to have the alert function - I get an email anytime something changes on my credit report.

 

[vpivinylspinner]

You can get a free credit report from all three of the big guys each year at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

They will give you any negative information and show all of your credit lines but you have to pay extra to see your score.

 

[ken36]

Google credit reports.