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- Learn more about credit report and scores…
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I received an alert notification
Some of our alerts are generated by your actions, such as applying for a new credit card, while other alerts are generated when we find the data you asked us to monitor on the dark web.
Here is information on how you should handle some of our most common alerts:
• Social Security Number
• Email Address
• Phone Number
• Driver’s License
• Medical ID Number
• Credit or Debit Card
• Bank Account Number
• International Bank Account Number
• New Inquiry on Credit Report
• New Account or New Trade on Credit Report
If you received a different type of alert, please log in to your account to review the details and next steps.
• Consider changing the password to your email and to any other accounts that use your email address as a username. Use a strong password and avoid reusing passwords across multiple sites
• Review your credit reports from all three bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Transunion) for new activity
• As a precaution, keep an eye on your bank and credit card accounts for unfamiliar transactions
We can help you work through this. Contact Customer Care for further assistance at 877-890-9332.
• Watch for suspicious calls and contact your phone provider if these noticeably increase
• Add your name to the national Do Not Call list
• Review your credit reports from all three bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Transunion) for new activity
• As a precaution, keep an eye on your bank and credit card accounts for unfamiliar transactions
• Contact your local DMV
• Review your credit reports from all three bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Transunion) for new activity
• As a precaution, keep an eye on your bank and credit card accounts for unfamiliar transactions
• Contact your medical card provider to report activity and verify that there has not been any fraudulent claims opened
• Review your credit reports from all three bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Transunion) for new activity
• As a precaution, keep an eye on your medical insurance accounts, as well as your bank and credit card accounts for unfamiliar transactions
• Review the account transaction history closely for unfamiliar charges
• Contact financial institution to cancel your card and/or report it stolen
• Review your credit reports from all three bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Transunion) for new activity
• As a precaution, keep an eye on other bank and credit card accounts for unfamiliar transactions
• Contact U.S. Passport office
• Review your credit reports from all three bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Transunion) for new activity
• Review the account transaction history closely for unfamiliar charges
• Contact financial institution and close your bank card/account
• Review your credit reports from all three bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Transunion) for new activity
• As a precaution, keep an eye on other bank and credit card accounts for unfamiliar transactions
• Review the account transaction history closely for unfamiliar charges
• Contact financial institution and close your bank card/account
• Review your credit reports from all three bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Transunion) for new activity
• As a precaution, keep an eye on other bank and credit card accounts for unfamiliar transactions
• Review your credit reports from all three bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Transunion) for new activity
• As a precaution, keep an eye on your bank and credit card accounts for unfamiliar transactions
This is the potential company or website where the internet compromise originated from. Hackers, when sharing stolen data on the dark web, will sometimes provide the name of the company or website where the information was breached from.
If you don’t recognize this as a company you have a relationship with, note that it may be a third party organization that interfaces with a company you have done business with. A hypothetical example could be if your information was exposed during the breach of a payment processor that partners with a commercial airline you’ve bought tickets from.
If you recognize or authorized this activity, no action is required. If not, here is some more information that may help.
If you’re still certain that you didn’t authorize this activity, there are steps that you can take.
• Contact the creditor – this may clear up what’s happening
• Review your credit report for new activity
• Dispute the account information on your credit report
If you recognize or authorized this activity, no action is required. If not, here is some more information that may help.
If you’re still certain that you didn’t authorize this activity, there are steps that you can take.
• Contact the creditor – this may clear up what’s happening
• Review your credit report for new activity
• Dispute the account information on your credit report
If you are not sure if you initiated the activity on your alert, here’s some information that may help:
Did you recently apply for a credit application or open a new account? Here are some companies you may see in your alert that may not be familiar on first glance:
• JPMCB (aka JP Morgan Chase Bank)
• CBNA (aka Citibank)
• CapOne (aka CapitalOne)
• FNBO (aka First National Bank of Omaha)
• TBH (aka The Home Depot)
• Synchrony Bank – Credit and loan provider that typically works with major retailers
• Credco – This is a third-party reporting agency. Often, mortgage companies, financial institutions, and dealerships will contact this type of reporting agency to obtain a three-bureau credit score
• Ally – Ally bank is a credit and loan provider that typically works with major retailers in several industries, such as auto financing, equity sponsors, and corporate finance
Most lenders report account activity within 30 days, but some can take as long as 90 days. Also, some smaller creditors may only report to one or two of the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. If your creditor doesn’t report to all three, then you will not receive an alert from all three for the same activity.
Here are some common reasons that you will receive multiple alerts for the same loan application:
• If the loan was approved and the lender opened an account in your name you will receive an alert for the initial credit report inquiry to process your application and also an alert for the account being opened
• If the lender reported your account to all three of the major credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax and TransUnion – you may receive an alert from each bureau
Protecting myself
If you are not sure if you initiated the activity on your alert, here’s some information that may help
If you’re certain that the information is incorrect, here is how you can dispute information on your credit reports
Here are some general guidelines to creating strong passwords:
• You need to choose a password that’s long enough. There’s no minimum password length everyone agrees on, but you should generally go for passwords that are a minimum of 12 to 14 characters in length.
• Your password should include numbers, symbols, capital letters, and lower-case letters. Using a mix of different types of characters to make the password harder to crack.
• Your password shouldn’t be a dictionary word or a combination of dictionary words. Any word on its own is bad. Any combination of a few words, especially if they’re obvious, is also bad. For example, ‘bird’ is a terrible password. ‘yellow bird’ is also very bad.
• Avoid obvious substitutions in your password. Don’t use common substitutions either – for example, ‘MOuse’ isn’t strong just because you’ve replaced an o with a 0.
We are sorry you have experienced such an event. We will need to speak with you regarding this matter. Please call 877-890-9332 at your earliest convenience.
What is a fraud alert?
The purpose of a fraud alert is to add a layer of security to the loan application process, with the goal of preventing criminals from opening bogus credit accounts or taking out loans in your name. The first step that typically occurs when a creditor processes your credit application is a credit check, and that requires access to your credit file at one of the national credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion or Equifax). A fraud alert pauses the credit check process and instructs the creditor to confirm your identity before it accesses your report.
Requesting a fraud alert at any one of the credit bureaus automatically applies alerts to your credit files at all three bureaus. Each fraud alert deactivates itself on a preset expiration date. You can have a fraud alert lifted before its expiration date if you wish, but you must contact each credit bureau individually to do so.
Types of Fraud Alerts
There are three types of fraud alerts:
• A temporary fraud alert. Also known as an initial fraud alert, this type of alert lasts one year and then expires. You can add one to your credit report anytime, for any reason. You can renew it as many times as you like.
• An active-duty fraud alert. This alert protects active-duty service members on assignment away from home, and also lasts one year unless it’s removed earlier. Each service member must provide a copy of their duty assignment when requesting this type of alert.
• An extended fraud victim alert. Extended alerts last seven years and are designed for victims of credit fraud or identity theft. If you’ve been victimized and have reported the crime to authorities, you can obtain an extended fraud alert by submitting a copy of the identity theft report you filed with law enforcement.
When does it make sense to add a fraud alert?
A fraud alert is a good precaution to take if you’re worried about potential misuse of your personal information. You only need to notify one credit bureau to activate one, and it’s only slightly more time-consuming to deactivate fraud alerts than it is to put them in place.
How do I set a fraud alert?
Fraud alerts are available through all three national credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax). Placing a fraud alert at any one of the bureaus automatically triggers alerts at all three.
Experian
Phone: 888-397-3742
Online: https://www.experian.com/fraud/center.html
TransUnion
Phone: 800-680-7289
Online: https://www.transunion.com/fraud-alerts
Equifax
Phone: 800-525-6285
Online: https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-fraud-alerts/
To dispute information on your credit report, you will need to contact the associated bureau:
Experian
Online:
You can initiate a dispute at https://www.experian.com/disputes/main.html
Mail:
You will need to write a letter to Experian to complete your dispute:
Experian
P.O. Box 4500
Allen, TX 75013
TransUnion
https://www.transunion.com/customer-support/faqs/credit-disputes
Online:
Through the online dispute submission process at https://dispute.transunion.com.
Phone:
By toll-free telephone number at 800-916-8800. Customer service representatives are available Monday through Friday (excluding major holidays) from 8am to 11pm Eastern time. You should have a copy of your TransUnion Credit Report before calling this telephone number. The credit report will contain a File Identification Number (File Number) that will be needed by the representative helping you.
Mail:
By mailing your dispute request to:
TransUnion LLC
Consumer Dispute Center
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19016
Equifax
Online:
Please visit www.equifax.com and follow the link at the bottom of the page labeled ‘Dispute info on credit report’. This will take you to the dispute page where you will need to fill out the requested information and take an identity authentication quiz for security purposes.
What is a credit freeze?
Also known as a security freeze, a credit freeze allows you to restrict access to your credit report, which makes it more difficult for identity thieves to open new accounts in your name. Keep in mind, however, that a credit freeze may prevent you from opening a new account, applying for a job, renting an apartment or buying insurance. If you need to do any of these, you can lift the freeze temporarily either for a specified time or to allow access to a specified party. You can have the freeze lifted for free and place it again for free when you are done allowing access to your credit. While a credit freeze can help prevent identity thieves from opening accounts using your information, they will not prevent a thief from accessing existing accounts and will not prevent prescreened offers of credit. All the national bureaus are required, by law, to offer you credit freezes for free. Remember, freezing your credit will not impact your credit score or prevent you from getting your free annual credit report and your existing creditors and certain governmental agencies will still have access to your credit report.
How to place a Credit Freeze
Contact each of the three nationwide credit bureaus. If you do not freeze at all three sources, your credit file will still be available for lenders to access.
Experian: https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
TransUnion: https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze
Equifax: https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/
Credit monitoring is a service that alerts you whenever a change is made to one of your credit reports. This gives you the chance to quickly confirm the accuracy of the change and, if necessary, start sorting out any problems before they really get out of hand. Any suspicious credit-report change can be a sign of fraud, after all, and credit reports often contain errors that can cause rejection by a lender.
Credit Reports and Scores
Pulling your credit report will not affect your credit scores because you won’t incur hard inquiries. When you access your own credit report, it’s considered a soft inquiry which doesn’t lower your credit score as it’s not a scoring factor.
Credit monitoring will not affect your credit scores because you won’t incur hard inquiries. When you access your own credit report for credit monitoring, it’s considered a soft inquiry which doesn’t lower your credit score as it’s not a scoring factor.
Log in to your member portal to view your credit reports and scores. Credit Reports and Scores are displayed on the dashboard and when selecting the Credit tab.
Your credit score is a three-digit number that relates to how likely you are to repay debt. Banks and lenders use it to decide whether they’ll approve you for a credit card or loan.
Your credit score is calculated by applying the Experian Vantage 3.0 model to the data stored within each credit bureau. The Experian Vantage 3.0 score was selected for Experian IdentityWorks as it is highly regarded in the identity protection and monitoring industry.
Your Experian IdentityWorks subscription includes credit scores generated using the Experian Vantage 3.0 model. The Experian Vantage 3.0 model is highly regarded in the industry as helpful in identifying potential identity theft. This score in particular, is for educational purposes (to let you know what your score is and whether it has changed) and is not intended for your use in making financial decisions.
While the exact criteria used by each scoring model varies, here are the most common factors that affect your credit scores.
• Payment history. Payment history is the most important ingredient in credit scoring, and even one missed payment can have a negative impact on your score.
• Credit utilization. Your credit utilization ratio is calculated by dividing the total revolving credit you are currently using by the total of all your revolving credit limits. This ratio looks at how much of your available credit you’re utilizing and can give you a snapshot of how reliant you are on non-cash funds.
• Credit history length. This includes the age of your oldest credit account, the age of your newest credit account and the average age of all your accounts. Generally, the longer your credit history, the higher your credit scores.
• Credit mix. People with top credit scores often carry a diverse portfolio of credit accounts, which might include a car loan, credit card, student loan, mortgage or other credit products. Credit scoring models consider the types of accounts and how many of each you have as an indication of how well you manage a wide range of credit products.
• New credit. This is the number of credit accounts you’ve recently opened, as well as the number of hard inquiries lenders make when you apply for credit. Too many accounts or inquiries can indicate increased risk, and as such can hurt your credit score.
When you request your 3 bureau credit report Experian IdentityWorks requests a copy of your report from each bureau and compiles it for you to view in a user friendly format. Here are a few reasons you may not have received all 3 of your reports.
• One or more of the bureaus could not match the information from your enrollment form with a unique credit file
• One or more of the bureaus experienced a technical issue during the process of pulling your credit report
• One or more of the bureaus do not have a credit report on file for you
Your credit score may be different among the 3 credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax and TransUnion because each bureau is independent and contains unique data regarding your credit history. Lenders are not required to report to or inquire with all 3 bureaus, therefore, it is possible that you may have more credit inquiries or delinquencies on file with one bureau as opposed to another, which may impact your credit score.
Not all lenders report to all 3 credit bureaus
No. Your credit reports are linked to your personal information, which typically includes your Social Security number, so your credit reports and credit histories remain separate when you get married. However, if you and your spouse open a joint account, or one of you adds the other as an authorized user on a credit card account, the history of that account will be reflected on both of your credit reports.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, you can now check your 3 bureau credit report weekly at AnnualCreditReport.com
With some exceptions, most children under age 18 should not have a credit report. Minors, however, are not immune to identity theft and credit fraud. So you need to check if your youngster has a credit report – and you need to know what is on it.
Our Services Explained
According to the United States Department of Justice, identity theft and fraud are “all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain.”
Internet Surveillance can monitor the following information:
• Email addresses
• Social security number
• Phone numbers
• Credit/debit card numbers
• Bank account/routing numbers
• Driver’s license number
• Passport number
• Store/membership card numbers
• Medical ID numbers
This service searches the dark parts of internet to find exposures of personal and financial information. The personal and financial information we find comes from Internet forums and websites, web pages, dark web chat channels, hidden and anonymous web services, malware samples, and more.
Internet Surveillance’s data comes from Internet forums and websites, web pages, IRC channels, refined PII search engine queries, Twitter feeds, P2P sources, hidden and anonymous web services, malware samples, botnets, and torrent sources.
This service can be a useful tool in helping prevent further exposure of information. By monitoring your personal and financial information we can alert you to internet exposures and provide recommendations on what to do to keep you safe for further exposure.
Internet Surveillance also allows parents and legal guardians to monitor their child’s personal information and be alerted of any potential exposure.
In addition, the SSN Trace service monitors and reports on fraudulent names, aliases, and addresses associated with a child’s monitored social security number (SSN). The SSN Trace service searches and monitors public records in all fifty states, including records such as property and recorder of deed registration, county assessor data, state occupational licenses, voter information, court proceedings, bankruptcies, liens, and judgments.
The Social Media Monitoring service is another valuable tool for parents and legal guardians and enables them to keep an eye on social activity items in which a privacy or reputation risk has been detected for their child in any of the social networks – facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
The more personal and financial information you add for monitoring, the more chances of being alerted of exposures to your information. Knowing when exposures have occurred is a useful tool in helping prevent further exposure of your information.
Credit-monitoring notifies you when a change is made to your credit report.
The types of activity that credit-monitoring service notifies you about, include:
• New Hard Inquiries: When a credit card or loan application is submitted in your name, the financial institution will run a credit check, adding a “hard inquiry” listing to your credit report.
• New Accounts: Credit reports note whenever a new credit card or loan is opened under your identity.
• Existing-Account Changes: Credit reports include details on your payment history and highest balance with each of your credit cards.
• New Public Records: These include information about bankruptcies, tax liens and civil court judgments.
• Address Changes: Any address associated with a credit card or loan listed in your name can be found on your credit report.
No – this is a $0 deductible service.
If you become a victim of identity theft while you are a member, you may be covered for any of the following:
• Unauthorized Electronic Fund Transfers (EFT) / Stolen • Funds
• Lost Wages
• Private Investigator Costs
• Legal Defense Fees
• And more
Credit Monitoring
Monitoring Your Credit
Tips to Monitor your credit.
Internet Surveillance
Identity Protection Tips
How to best protect and monitor your information