3 Major Credit Bureaus

It is important that you keep all your information safe to reduce the chances of being a victim of identity theft.

To do this you will need to practice safe banking, business and computer practices.

You should always keep all your PIN numbers and passwords safe and use numbers and passwords that are not easy to guess. Never use birth dates, phone numbers or address numbers as your passwords or in your PIN numbers.

At any time you need to use your PIN number make sure that you have it covered from other people seeing it and never give anyone your PIN or your passwords for any of your financial information no matter how much you might trust them.

Never write down your PIN numbers or passwords as this will increase the chances of the information falling into the wrong hands.

When you do business of any kind only do it with people that you trust

Even when you get any form of information from the banks or for credit cards, make sure you thoroughly destroy the information either by burning or shredding it and if you put it out with the rubbish make sure that people who go through your rubbish can't piece together the information to steal your identity. And yes these thieves do go through people's rubbish to get the information they need, as this is often one of the easiest ways to get what they need.

Pre-approved credit can be a real problem as thieves can get the forms and fill them out to their requirements and steal your identity quite easily.

You can never be too cautious when protecting your identity and the time and effort it takes to be safe is certainly a lot less than the time it takes to clear up the problems that it can create later on down the line.

Credit in Minutes Tip #1

Stay on top of your credit report. Most credit reports contain errors. Make sure you check your credit report every year (you get one free credit report every twelve months) and if there are errors make sure to challenge them with the reporting credit agency. Credit agencies are required to investigate each and every challenge that gets reported.

Credit in Minutes Tip #2

Just because you qualify for all of those credit cards does not mean you should get them. A person with too many credit cards looks sketchy in the eyes of a potential creditor. Think of it this way: if a person is financially stable does he or she need ten different credit cards? Wouldn’t just one or two suffice?

Credit in Minutes Tip #3

The best way to raise your credit score is to make all of your payments on time. It sounds too simple to be true, but that’s all there really is to it. Staying out of debt and/or making all of your debt payments on time will keep your score up where it should be.