Attorney general warns of credit scammers, identity thieves

With October being CyberSecurity Awareness Month, the Indiana Attorney General’s Office is warning you to keep your personal information protected.

The attorney general suggests says that to keep yourself and your family protected you should make sure to monitor your credit. You can use a credit monitoring service that will track your credit report and alert you whenever a change is made. He says most major credit cards offer monitoring services at no cost to the consumer. They can notify you within 24 hours if a new account is opened or a large purchase made.

You can also put a fraud alert on your credit report. That alerts lenders and creditors to take extra steps to verify your identity before issuing credit. You can put a credit freeze on your credit report, and Identity thieves will not be able to open a new credit account in your name while the freeze is in place.

You can place a fraud alert or credit freeze by contacting any one of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian or TransUnion.

If you believe you have been a victim of identity theft, you can call the attorney generals office at 1-800-382-5516 or go online here: https://www.in.gov/attorneygeneral/consumer-protection-division/id-theft-prevention/