TrueCredit Survey Reveals Two-Thirds of Consumers are Worried about Identity Theft

TrueCredit Survey Reveals Two-Thirds of Consumers are Worried about Identity
Theft
Personal Finance Experts Offer Tips Consumers can take to Protect Themselves

CHICAGO, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new survey, commissioned
by TrueCredit.com and conducted by Zogby International, an overwhelming
majority of U.S. adults (65.6 percent) say they're worried about identity
theft or fraud. Even with Halloween just around the corner, respondents
indicate they are significantly less scared of the holiday's frightful horror
movies (9.4 percent), haunted houses (2.5 percent) and ghost stories (.8
percent) as compared with the prospect of falling victim to fraud-related
crimes (43 percent).
The TrueCredit.com survey also reveals that more than half of respondents
(50.6 percent) either have, or know someone who has, been a victim of identity
theft or fraud. While 78 percent of those surveyed said they check their
credit card and checking account statements regularly for signs of fraud, many
consumers may not realize there are additional actions they can take to
protect themselves:
1. Use a paper shredder to ensure personal information and pre-approved
credit offers don't end up in the wrong hands.
2. Don't carry extra credit cards, your Social Security card, birth
certificate or passport with you unless needed.
3. When you order new checks, don't have them sent to your home. Pick them
up at the bank instead. Stolen checks can be altered and may be cashed by
fraudsters.
4. Check your credit reports frequently to ensure accuracy. Consider a
subscription credit monitoring service with a report locking feature to
control when, or if, creditors can access your report and to receive email
alerts when critical changes occur.
5. Provide personal information over the phone only if you've initiated
the call. Identity thieves may call you and pose as banks or government
agencies to extract this information.
6. Follow your billing cycles closely. A missing credit card or other bill
could mean an identity thief has changed your billing address.
"Most consumers today know it's important to take steps to protect
themselves from identity theft. In fact, one in four consumers who use our
service tell us they check their credit report because of identity theft
concerns," said Lucy Duni, vice president of Consumer Education at
TransUnion's TrueCredit.com. "From the relatively low-tech world of shredding
to new innovations such as 24/7 online credit locking and online credit
disputes, consumers owe it to themselves to get educated about the wide range
of tools that are out there to help them."
To learn more and to view the full results from the
TrueCredit-commissioned survey, log onto http://www.gotruecredit.com and visit
the learning center.
Study Methodology
Zogby International was commissioned by TrueCredit.com to conduct an
online survey of 8,603 adults from 9/12/08 through 9/15/08. A sampling of
Zogby International's online panel, which is representative of the adult
population of the U.S., was invited to participate. Slight weights were
added, such as region, age, race, and gender to more accurately reflect the
population. The margin of error is +/- 1.1 percentage points. Margins of error
are higher in sub-groups.
About TrueCredit.com
Since 1999, TransUnion's TrueCredit.com has helped millions of consumers
manage their own credit health. Through a suite of educational materials, free
monthly newsletters and easy-to-use products, the company helps consumers
understand personal credit management and empowers them to achieve greater
financial well-being. TrueCredit.com's online products include credit
reports, credit and insurance scores, credit monitoring, debt management tools
and identity theft insurance services. TrueCredit.com is the
direct-to-consumer arm of Chicago-based TransUnion Interactive, a subsidiary
of TransUnion, a global leader in credit and information management. Manage
your credit. Manage your life.(SM) http://www.gotruecredit.com
SOURCE TrueCredit.com

Steven Katz of TransUnion, +1-312-985-2373, skatz@transunion.com; or Aimee
Eichelberger, +1-312-568-7324, aeichelberger@c-k.com, for TrueCredit.com