Who is safe from Identity Theft? The answer coming indirectly out of NASA this week, yes as in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is that nobody truly is 100% protected from malicious identity theft criminals.  This week the International Space Station became one of the latest victims of a computer virus, known as W32.Gammima.AG. This specific virus copies itself onto computers in an attempt to steal users log-on information. Log-on information that can easily and quickly be used to, in effect, steal the identity of the computer user. 

Many times when we hear of identity theft our thoughts wander to someone stealing our wallets or purses, or perhaps recently we have heard a myriad of stories where companies, hospitals, or corporations lose computers, laptops, or memory sticks that contain thousands and even millions of data records for consumers like you and I. 

News out of NASA highlights another area that identity theft criminals can utilize; computer viruses. In early 2004 a computer virus called MyDoom successfully infected 1 million computer users in just the month of May. While MyDoom was not designed to steal the identity of others, this illustrates just how quickly and damaging the combination of viruses and identity theft can become. 

Nearly 1 in 20 adult Americans have been victims of identity theft as of April 2003 (Star Systems). Every single day identity theft rings are craftily attempting to steal your identity, passwords, social security numbers, or any other personal information that they can use to their criminal advantage.

What can you do to protect yourself? 

They teach a lot of things in school. One thing they often fail to teach, adequately teach, is financial wellness. In fact the average American holds four credit cards yet credit cards are often warrant less than an hour’s worth of conversation throughout the typical 4-year degree at most US colleges.  What do Americans know about credit cards?

Americans typically know what their minimum monthly payment is, their credit card limit, how to finance education on a credit card, or perhaps general knowledge that a higher credit score will allow you to hold a higher number of credit cards. 

Here are 10 things you may not know about Credit Cards.

We’ve all heard the stories, nightmares really, of loan sharks, crooks, and leaches in the credit card space that impose unreasonable restrictions on consumers. Consumers seem to be in agreement that there need to be tighter controls to protect consumers in the credit-card space. There are complaints that these credit card companies often initiate arbitrary rate increases as well as penalizing consumers that marginally are late on payments, as marginal as payments that are 1 day late. Share these gripes, check out this MarketWatch article, Interest in new rules boils over. 

Let’s face it, America is a shopaholic nation. And this insatiable desire to shop is fulfilled by the use of credit cards, with 1 in 7 Americans carrying 10 or more credit cards. Americans can’t get enough of this lifestyle, meaning that Americans continue to spend more, year over year.   

But the wind of change is blowing and this time the American consumer is looking to simplify their lives and cut back their once insatiable desire to buy SUV’s, plasma screens, and extravagant homes. In fact, 84% are looking to buy “less stuff”. It’s an interesting and monumental change in consumer sentiment. Read on to find some intriguing signs on how this may be The End of Credit Card Consumerism.

Loaded up with Credit Card Debt? Free Information on Controlling Your Credit Card Debt is one click away.

These days, credit scores affect almost everything we do, including rates on mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards to the ability to get a job. That is why it is essential that we understand what a credit report is and what factors can affect this report. It is also important to understand your credit score and how that number is viewed by a lender.

A credit report and score is a snapshot of how high of a risk you are to a lender. The most widely used credit score is the FICO, which ranges from 300-850. This system was created by the Fair Issac Corporation and is used by the majority of lenders in determining consumer credit scores. There are also many other credit rating agencies that sell “educational scores” that the industry somtimes refers to as “FAKOs”, meaning a fake FICO score. For example, Experian offers their own PLUS Score and TransUnion sells a Vantage Score, which ranges between 501-990. These scores can sometimes differ from the FICO score by 20 points or more and have completely different ranges, so it is very important that you know kind of score you are actually looking at and to make sure that it is consistent with the score your lender would use to qualify you for a loan.

Ultimately, it is recommended that you review your credit report at least once a year and determine what you can do to improve your score to ensure that you are not considered a high risk as a borrower. Read more on understanding your credit score.

If you are curious what is on your credit report, check out this free trial offer to view your credit report and score.

A lot of what we’ve been hearing the past year is that lending standards have become tough. That you have to have a good credit score to get a loan due to the subprime mortgage crisis. Yet now the failure of prime mortgages is going to make it even harder for first time homebuyers to get into a home. Lenders are now even scrutinizing prime borrowers, those who already have a good credit score. It is vital that your credit score be immaculate before you apply for a home loan. Lenders are being more and more conservative with their loans. If you’re looking to get into a home in the future, maybe it’s time to start the credit improvement process now. You can either do it yourself by learning how to write a reputable dispute letter which takes a lot of time and patience or you can hire a reputable firm for a monthly fixed price.

Read more about tightening lending standards here.

Why would an insurance company care about credit reports? The answer is actually simple but definitely controversial. Insurance companies want to determine whether you should have a low rate or a high rate on your insurance. In fact a study referenced in the below article actually cites that 92% of the largest auto insurance firms used information in credit reports to write new policies and 52% used it to determine rates.

Concerned by how your credit report is being used? You should be. Really, it just puts more emphasis on your credit report and ensuring it’s going to give you high marks on your credit worthiness report card. Read about insurance company and credit reports.

While legislation may take years to reverse how insurance companies can use your reports, you view your credit report in just minutes. If your not sure what’s on your credit report, check out this free trial offer to pull your credit report.

Eleven people were indicted in an ID theft ring that targeted stealing credit and debit card numbers from large stores. You’d be surprised by the list of stores; Barnes and Noble, TJ Maxx, Boston Market, Sports Authority, BJ’s Wholesale Club, DSW Shoe Warehouse, OfficeMax, and Forever 21.

Identity Theft can seriously harm your ability to buy a home, a car, or even something as trivial as a T.V.

What can you do when you are struck by ID theft? Check out this Identity Theft article.

Click to watch the Yahoo News hosted ABC News story.

One safety measure is by checking your credit report and/or employing a Credit Monitoring service.

One of the three major bureaus, TransUnion, recently announced something major, something that could affect virtually every American. The bottom line is that the bureaus can only sell public data and the Chicago settlement centered around the restriction that the bureaus are unable to sell a consumer’s private data.

The settlement offers an estimated 150 million, yes million, consumers either 6 or 9 months of free credit monitoring. However, if you go for the appealing 9 months of free monitoring, you are waiving some rights. Get more details in this summary article titled The TransUnion Settlement and Credit Repair.

The official TransUnion Corporation Privacy Litigation site can be found here, allowing you to register for benefits as well as provide your email address for updates.

It’s the question that anyone with credit problems will face – should I try to repair my credit myself or do I hire a company to do it for me? It’s a question that you’ll probably have to determine on your personal situation, goals, and financial situation. However, there are very convincing arguments as to why it will save you a lot of time, hassle, and money to go ahead and hire a company, preferably a law firm, that has experience in credit report repair. Here is a great article that helps provide valuable arguments to hire a credit repair law firm.