identity theft protection

[charliebird]

Does any one know who has the best identity protection program?

Yesterday, someone used our capitol one credit card all the way from London, England. The card had not been used in months and had only been used this past week locally and in St. Robert for a total of 3 transactions.

If anyone has any idea if Safelock has the best protection or what company does, we would appreciate any knowledge on this subject.

Thank you.

[Nanapower]

So sorry to hear about this we had this happen to our checking acct through a old debt card. I have wondered also on this safelock.

[homstdr74]

Originally Posted by charliebird

Does any one know who has the best identity protection program?

Yesterday, someone used our capitol one credit card all the way from London, England. The card had not been used in months and had only been used this past week locally and in St. Robert for a total of 3 transactions.

If anyone has any idea if Safelock has the best protection or what company does, we would appreciate any knowledge on this subject.

Thank you.

We have had good luck with ours. I don't know if you have an account at Commerce bank, but their Deluxe ID TheftBlock service:

http://www.commercebank.com/personal...theftblock.asp

sends monthly reports via your email. Their website explains what they offer.

[Bill Rook]

Originally Posted by charliebird

Does any one know who has the best identity protection program?

Yesterday, someone used our capitol one credit card all the way from London, England. The card had not been used in months and had only been used this past week locally and in St. Robert for a total of 3 transactions.

If anyone has any idea if Safelock has the best protection or what company does, we would appreciate any knowledge on this subject.

Thank you.

I'm betting your problem stems from an accounting problem between Capital One in the states and UK Bank of England. UK Bank issues Capital One cards there.

Some credit card issuers constantly monitor potential fraud use. Issuers are alerted when transactions are made from locations that are long distances apart. For example, American Express does that. Using their card in various states on a seemingly continuous basis freezes or suspends all transactions, compelling you to call and verify account holder information to get the card turned back on.

I read a few website facts about Capital One and didn't find significant ID theft protection that I would settle for. Instead of buying additional protection, dump Capital One and choose one that offers comprehensive ID Theft Protection without cost, if you can.

I hope you get the problem straightened out without a big hassle.

[RIchard Bland]

Originally Posted by charliebird

Does any one know who has the best identity protection program?

Yesterday, someone used our capitol one credit card all the way from London, England. The card had not been used in months and had only been used this past week locally and in St. Robert for a total of 3 transactions.

If anyone has any idea if Safelock has the best protection or what company does, we would appreciate any knowledge on this subject.

Thank you.

I use LifeLock, and feel that it's worth the money. However, their main emphasis is protecting you from broad identity theft. If your credit card number somehow gets leaked, I'm not sure think they would be able to detect or prevent fraudulent/unauthorized use of it in all cases. As Bill mentions above, it really ought to be Capital One that keeps an eye on peculiar use of the card. I sporadically get calls from my credit card issuers asking whether a particular charge (or set of charges) is legitimate. (So far all the charges have been, fortunately.) Sometimes if I use the card too frequently--for instance, if I'm buying a bunch of Christmas presents online on the same day--some of the charges will be rejected because the usage has tripped some warning bells back at the issuers control center.

[charliebird]

that responded and a special thanks to Mr. Rook for his explanation. We do not use Capital One as our main credit card. We put the Capital One away for 6 months and then take it out for 3 transactions and then put it away again. I am under the assumption that if we should discontinue with Capital One and discard the card, that it would hurt our credit rating. We would love to tear it up, but for this very reason we have not and this is why we have been using it in this manner. I also agree it has less than great safety protection for it's users. Two years back I used it at T.J. Max and the entire records of Max had been stolen and we had the card canceled then too. They re-issued another and we have been doing the 6 month game for the last two years so it would not hurt our credit rating. We keep an eye on our credit rating and we would not want to do anything to hurt that.

If anyone has any advice also on discontinuing with a credit card and it in turn hurting your credit rating I would very much appreciate any input.

Thanks!

[homstdr74]

Originally Posted by charliebird

that responded and a special thanks to Mr. Rook for his explanation. We do not use Capital One as our main credit card. We put the Capital One away for 6 months and then take it out for 3 transactions and then put it away again. I am under the assumption that if we should discontinue with Capital One and discard the card, that it would hurt our credit rating. We would love to tear it up, but for this very reason we have not and this is why we have been using it in this manner. I also agree it has less than great safety protection for it's users. Two years back I used it at T.J. Max and the entire records of Max had been stolen and we had the card canceled then too. They re-issued another and we have been doing the 6 month game for the last two years so it would not hurt our credit rating. We keep an eye on our credit rating and we would not want to do anything to hurt that.

If anyone has any advice also on discontinuing with a credit card and it in turn hurting your credit rating I would very much appreciate any input.
Thanks!

You may have read them before, but there are several websites with info about how to cancel w/o losing your credit rating. Here are links to a couple of them:

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/...rts/p72328.asp

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-ca...-card-6000.php

[Bill Rook]

Originally Posted by charliebird

that responded and a special thanks to Mr. Rook for his explanation. We do not use Capital One as our main credit card. We put the Capital One away for 6 months and then take it out for 3 transactions and then put it away again. I am under the assumption that if we should discontinue with Capital One and discard the card, that it would hurt our credit rating. We would love to tear it up, but for this very reason we have not and this is why we have been using it in this manner. I also agree it has less than great safety protection for it's users. Two years back I used it at T.J. Max and the entire records of Max had been stolen and we had the card canceled then too. They re-issued another and we have been doing the 6 month game for the last two years so it would not hurt our credit rating. We keep an eye on our credit rating and we would not want to do anything to hurt that.

If anyone has any advice also on discontinuing with a credit card and it in turn hurting your credit rating I would very much appreciate any input.

Thanks!

CB, I've closed several credit card accounts in the past without detracting from my credit rating. Closing accounts that were in good standing doesnt hurt anything. When obtaining further credit, I've told loan officers that I closed them for reasons of non-use and I didn't want open accounts that are inactive. It shows you are financially responsible.

[charliebird]

Homstdr and Mr. Rook. I was unaware of this. I even called home this morning and they also thought the same as I did, with it hurting credit rating. Will definitely close this account instead of taking time to play this 6 month game. Thanks so much for you help!

[Amazed_One]

A lot of it depends on your 'credit history'. How long you have had each account open, how much other debt you have, and how much available credit you have.

The credit issuers look at your debt to income ratio when approving/denying credit. So, if you have other cards or accounts that have been open for a long period and aren't tapped out on others...close it. If you need the 'available' credit limit to help your debt to income ratio be lower...keep it open.