Some people believe that if they have little money in their bank
account, there’s nothing to steal. Unfortunately, what matters isn’t just
how much you have in your bank account; it’s how far in debt the thief
can place you by using your information to apply for loans or purchase
expensive items on your credit. In fact, a criminal may leave the money
in your checking account untouched and drive up debt so that it takes
longer for you to be alerted the problem.There’s a useful Identity Theft Risk Assessment Quiz
from Rutgers University to help you learn better
habits to prevent ID theft. Try it out at http://
njaes.rutgers.edu/money/identitytheft/.Get Your Free Credit Reports
All people over the age of 14 or so need to be monitoring their credit
score, as this is one of the quickest ways to spot ID theft. Here are
some important facts about obtaining your credit reports:➟ You have the right to one freecredit disclosure in a
12-month period from eachof the three national
credit reporting companies — TransUnion (www.
transunion.com), Experian (www.experian.
com), and Equifax (www.equifax.com).➟ The easiest way to get these reports is through
AnnualCreditReport.com (see Figure 13-5), a service
created by these three credit institutions specifically
to help consumers get free annual reports. Simply go
to this site, answer some questions to verify your
identity, and submit your request. As of this writing,272
Part III: Protecting Your Wealth and Your Health