Fraud affects millions of Americans every year, costing them millions of dollars and causing an untold headaches. It’s estimated that billions of dollars in productivity and time are lost due to fraud in the United States alone. Get to know how to protect credit from fraud.

However, that’s not the worst of it. Fraud can follow you in your credit reports, too. Not all types of fraud show on your credit report, however, there are ways that fraud could hurt your credit.

You need to protect your credit from fraud, and we want to help you. Follow the below steps to know how to protect credit from fraud.

Credit Card Fraud

Credit card fraud happens when a person’s credit card information is stolen. This could be taken from a card skimmer, a keylogger on someone’s computer, or lost in database breaches.

The main effect of credit card fraud is that a thief can run up a very large balance on the victim’s credit card, while the victim is on the hook for the balance.

However, this doesn’t have to be the case. There are ways to make sure that credit card fraud doesn’t show up on your credit report.

• Report your card lost or stolen as soon as you find out it’s been lost. This is the first step and is damage control. Once your card is reported as lost or stolen, no additional charges may be initiated on the card. The card, if continued to be used, will simply decline.
• Initiate a chargeback with your credit card company once you learn of the balance. If you do not have your card, you’ll still need to know your credit card number affected. Make sure that you call your credit card company directly!
• If all else fails, file a dispute with the credit bureau. Sometimes, things are reported that should not be there.

Identity Fraud

Identity fraud is a much more difficult thing to recover from, for one simple reason: most people who have their identity stolen don’t find out until well after the fact! Know how to detect identity fraud.

There are many types of identity fraud, not all of which will show up on your credit report. However,  if your identity has been used to take out loans or open new accounts, you could be on the hook for large payments. And, if they’re not paid, they’ll show up on your credit report as past due. This could be troublesome, to say the least.

It’s not impossible to find an unpaid mortgage on your credit report that you never opened!

Credit card fraud often has a relatively easy resolution. Identity fraud, however, is much more time-consuming to deal with when encountered.

However, this isn’t the end: you can still recover and prevent it from going on your credit report.

• Monitor your credit report as often as possible. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and it couldn’t be more true when it comes to credit management.
• Sort out the situation with the issuer of the debt. This could be a credit card company, a bank, or a lender. This could be much more difficult if the issuer of the debt does not own it any longer, however.
• File a dispute with the credit bureau. Fraud is something that should never be on your credit card, especially if it’s been reported and found. However, credit bureaus often will not check to make sure that an item is fraudulent. You will have to file this dispute yourself.
• If all else fails, call a credit repair company. Credit Pros has legal and credit experts that can help you fix credit problems caused by fraud in your name and guide you on how to protect your credit from fraud.

Are you dealing with fraud and can’t seem to erase it from your credit report? Call The Credit Pros. We have the expertise to help you solve all manner of credit and fraud problems. Call 800-411-3050 to get credit help now!