Repair Your Credit

The first thing you need to do to repair your credit is to start today as DAY ONE.

Focus on changing your bad habits and on establishing new habits to protect your privacy so that all your good work to rebuild your credit will not be stolen away by an identity thief.

Protect Yourself

1. Do not answer personal questions about your finances, your social security number or any other personal information online, by email, or by phone, unless YOU have chosen to go to a site or call a company about your accounts.

2. Store your social security card in a safe location. Do not keep it in your wallet, purse or car. The chances are good that you KNOW your number by heart and don’t need to carry it around with you.

3. Buy an inexpensive shredder and shred all bills, financial documents and pre-approved credit card offers you receive. Better yet, opt out of the pre-approved credit card offers by calling the number we gave you earlier.

4. Do not do business with companies that only use a PO Box address. Be sure you have clear contact information (phone numbers, company name, street address, etc.)

5. Do not leave your mail in an outside box for pick-up. Drop it in a post office mail collection box or take it directly to the post office.

6. Even if an offer seems too good to miss, take your time to review the details. Be sure you are dealing with a reputable company and resist the urge to ‘act now’ if you do not have all the information you need to make an informed decision.

7. Check your credit report regularly, check your online banking statements and keep track of your cleared checks, etc. Look for possible problems or questionable items.

8. Always read the fine print on every contract, credit card agreement and ‘special offer’. Even if you need to get a magnifying glass to read the details, you must read them.

If you are getting a low introductory rate on a credit card, what is the rate you will pay 6 months from now or a year from now. How high can this rate go? These are just some of the things you need to know. 

9. Report fraud to the Federal Trade Commission at (877) FTC-HELP or www.ftc.gov.

10. Avoid scams that prey on people who are in financial trouble or have a bad credit rating.

The most frequently reported consumer fraud is advance-fee loan scams. In this scenario, the consumer pays a fee to get a loan or credit card but never gets the loan or the card.
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Over 30% of these fraud victims learned about the offer from advertising in newspapers, or magazines, via direct mail or in catalogues.

Telemarketing scams were reported in 17% of these frauds, though only 14% were reported via internet, or email.

Ranked within the top five, of the top 10 frauds reported were:

•  4.5 million victims of advance-fee loan scams
• 2 million victims of credit repair scams
   

Up Your Credit Score - The recognized authority for self-help credit repair