Recently, a Georgia woman from Thomas County received the kind of early morning phone call that no one likes to get. Possible fraudulent transactions had been made with her bank card, and she was completely unaware of the fact that the card was missing. Come to find out, her entire wallet had been stolen from her parked SUV. The thieves had managed to use this Georgia consumer’s bank card at five locations before anyone found out. Imagine if identity thieves had taken the woman’s information and used it to open credit card accounts. Her credit score could have incurred the kind of damage that can take months to repair.
Why Georgia Residents should Always Protect their Debit Cards, Credit Cards, and Driver’s License from Identity Thieves
A lot of identity thieves are cyber hackers who can use technology to steal personal data from consumers all over the globe. However, identity theft can also be achieved through simple pick-pocketing. It can happen right here in Georgia, at your favorite restaurant or store, or even from your vehicle like in the example above.
It could be a disaster if someone stole your debit card, credit card, or driver’s license and you didn’t find out about the theft until hours later. After all, it takes very little time for an identity thief to wreak plenty of financial havoc. Yet, it might be even worse. What if someone just took down the information from payment cards and checkbook, but left the items in your purse or wallet? What if they jotted down your Social Security Number as well? It could take a very long time for you to discover the problem.
This is why all Georgia consumers should always remember to do two things. First, unless they’re locked away in a safe place, you should always keep your debit cards, credit cards, driver’s license, checkbook, and Social Security card within sight. Don’t turn your back on a wallet or purse that contains one or more of these items. Second, you should regularly check your bank statements, credit card statements, and credit reports and immediately report any suspicious activity.
How Checking their Credit Reports can Lead Georgia Consumers to the Fastest Way to Repair Bad Credit
Monitoring your credit reports will help you to determine whether or not you’ve been the victim of identity theft. These days, there are countless ways for personal information to be stolen. You really can’t be too careful.
The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act entitles you to request a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus every twelve months. Another federal statute, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) guards your right to accurate and error free credit reporting. However, in spite of the FCRA, too many consumers discover credit report inaccuracies. Often, the credit bureaus make mistakes, and your credit score suffers the consequences.
It’s unfair for any Georgia resident to suffer because a credit bureau has imperfect reporting practices. So if you find errors on your credit reports, have them disputed and removed. Once your credit reports have been cleared of mistakes, your credit score may immediately increase, and it should. You deserve the credit score that you’ve actually earned, and you can get a FREE credit repair lawyer to help you through process that’s necessary to get it back.
The Free and Legal way to Get Better Credit
Don’t let fraudulent accounts caused by identity theft or other errors on your credit reports bring your credit score down. At Credit Repair Lawyers of America, we’ve been cleaning up credit reports for consumers since 2008 for free. How do we do it? All of our fees come from the defendants in settled cases. This is why our clients pay nothing for the work we do.
Let’s start the conversation about what we can do for your credit. Set up your free consultation today by calling Attorney Gary Nitzkin at (404) 591-6680 or sending him a message through our contact page.
