This year, 15 million Americans will be victims of identity theft. Protecting your credit from fraud may seem like a daunting task, but with these three simple precautions you have peace of mind knowing your credit is secure.

  1. Check your credit quarterly. Federal law guarantees you a free annual credit report from each of the three major agencies. Rotate between each of your credit reports quarterly to check for discrepancies.
  2. Be aware of inquiries. Each time a potential lender checks your credit worthiness, you’re left with an inquiry on your report which can appear for seven years! When providing your social security number on credit applications, ask the lender if they can use a “soft pull” which will not appear on your credit report.
  3. Sign up for credit alerts. You can subscribe to a credit monitoring service which will alert you of changes on your credit report and provide additional reporting not included in annual free credit reports.

Carefully monitoring your credit will help to save you time (and money!) down the road, especially if you plan on making a large purchase in the future. Also,  your credit history tends to matter more than your credit score, so ensuring that inquiries are at a minimum and that you’re overall borrowing behavior is reliable is important. Good credit on your end will also allow companies like American Capital Group to lend you more money at a lower price. See how low you can get with our *Lowest Payment, Guaranteed, or get a quick quote for your business here.