Free Credit Report: Make It Work for You (cont.)
Contributed by Boo Roberts
What should I do with my free credit report?
When you receive your free credit report, you should look over it very carefully. You want to make sure the names of the credit cards and financial institutions are actually legitimate, that they are actually yours. You will want to verify the dollar amounts that are on your credit report, and make sure those are the correct amounts, and that they are yours as well. For instance, say you have a credit card and you always pay your balance when it is due.
You never carry a balance from month to month, and you only use your credit card for emergencies. If your credit card balance shows an unusually large amount, like several thousand dollars, and you know you have only ever charged a few hundred dollars at most, then that is a good indicator you might have been a victim of fraud. If some of the credit cards (and subsequent numbers) on your credit report look unfamiliar to you, someone might have used your identity to apply for a credit card.
It is a good idea to get a credit report every year, to make sure things are in order, and also to make sure all of items on the report are yours. In this day and age it is too easy to become someone else, too easy to get that type of information. Make your credit report work for you.
