fraud_question[at]hotmail.com (Fraud Question) wrote in message news:<3f9335b8.0401051649.4741a691[at]posting.google.com> ...

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Last year I was the victim of an identity theft scam and believe me,
it is a royal pain! (Not to mention expensive.) I think that anything
you can do to prevent ID theft -- including placing a fraud alert on
your credit accounts -- is well worth it.

The only disadvantage of having that fraud alert on your account is
that when you want to apply for credit, you will have to take a couple
of extra steps to prove that you really are who you say you are. In my
opinion, that is a very small price to pay for the added security.

A few days ago I read an article on CNN.com that once again reminded
me just how big of a problem identity theft really is. And how scary
it is! Here's the link, if you're interested...

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/01/23/t...eut/index.html

Ever since I got my identity stolen last year I have been paying
attention to just how prevalent it is. In fact, I decided that it was
a problem worth taking additional steps to protect myself from and I
signed up for identity theft insurance. It's dirt cheap for the
protection I get and now I have some peace of mind. (I pay big bucks
for car insurance and haven't been in an accident for 8 years! I
guarantee the risk of a loss due to ID Theft is greater than getting
in a car accident. But the insurance is a lot cheaper!)

Anyway, you did the right thing by placing that fraud alert on your
account. My only other recommendation is to get some identity theft
insurance, too!


Brent Gray
Salt Lake City, Utah

"You too, can be financially FREE!"
http://www.ZeroYourDebt.com

Recently, someone used one of my credit cards without my permission.
They did so without actually having physical access to the credit card
- they somehow got my account number. I cancelled all of my cards,
got the charge reversed, etc.

I also placed a fraud alert on my credit report at the big 3 agencies.
Anytime someone tries to grant me a new credit account, they will get
a message saying they should contact me at a phone number for
confirmation that it is me who is applying for credit.

Are there any downsides to this other than the fact that instant
credit and things like that would fail (I never used in store instant
credit)? You can (for a fee) apparently allow certain creditors
access without receiving the message from what I understand.

Thanks.