On January 2, my husband and I received a phone call from the fraud department of our credit card company informing us that our card had been compromised. Sigh. Really?! The whole Target debacle had officially touched our house. We’d heard stories of the mess of problems the breach had caused and even have a family member whose debit card was affected. We had hoped, however, that we had escaped it, especially since we were monitoring our statement and transactions log very closely and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Nonetheless, we had a problem and needed to deal with it immediately. In fact, a LOT of people are having this same issue – maybe even you or someone you know. Wondering what to do next? Here are a few things we did . . .

First and foremost, we cancelled our credit cards on the spot and the company issued us new ones. Our next step was to call the companies with whom we use automatic payments, such as waste hauler, phone company, water delivery, etc., and notify them of the situation and new card numbers. The final step we took was to run credit reports on ourselves. Why? Because a PIN or credit card number isn’t the only information that’s up for grabs. Your name, address, phone number, date of birth, and social security number are at risk as well – everything a criminal needs to steal your identity. So we went to www.ftc.gov and requested a credit report from Equifax, Trans Union, and Experian. Within minutes we were able to view our entire credit histories, including many months’ worth of payment information, virtually every credit card we’d ever owned – even the ones that were closed – and even who had recently inquired about our credit. We were then able to verify all of our information and were satisfied that everything seemed to be in order. We could breathe a small sigh of relief – for the moment.

Even though our little adventure turned out well in the end, it has prompted us to decide to get our credit reports on a regular basis, not just whenever we have a problem. Whether or not you’ve been affected by some kind of debit, credit card, or any other kind of scam, it’s always a good idea to get a credit report and make sure your history is actually yours – good or bad. Obtaining a report will help you make sure your finances are yours and in order, but more importantly, it’ll help you guard against identity theft. It’s a very real crime that could cost you tons of money and years to clear up! And one of the best parts about credit reports is that you can get them for free. You are entitled to get a copy from each of the three companies I mentioned earlier once per year. (If you’d like an actual credit score, there’s a fee.)

So, if you’d like to see your credit report, go to www.ftc.gov then hover over the “I would like to . . .” section, then select “Get a free copy of my credit report”. On the next screen, click on the link to annualcreditreport.com and follow the instructions to receive your reports. Be sure to read the questions they ask very, very carefully! They’re designed to make sure you are who you say you are! Once you proceed, you’ll have the option of printing the report or saving it as a PDF to your computer. I suggest saving it . . . printing it could be a real pain, especially if you’ve got 30+ pages! If you don’t have a computer, or prefer not to do it online, you can call 1-877-322-8228.

Getting a credit report is a great, simple, FREE first step to protecting yourself and your information. Why not do it? Good luck to you!