Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft
Part 10
by Michelle Black

Thanks very much for “tuning in” today for our 10^th and final tip regarding identity theft prevention.  I hope that you have enjoyed this blog series as much as I have enjoyed writing it.  By following today’s tip and all 9 previous tips outlined in this series you can drastically reduce your chances of being victimized by ID thieves.

#10:  Take Your Name Off Promotional Lists.

When taking strides to reduce your risk of identity theft, it is definitely a good idea to opt out of pre-approved and promotional offers. Remember, in part 3 of this blog series where I wrote about “dumpster divers?” Dumpster divers are thieves who steal personal information right out of your trash can. It is very easy for a thief to steal a pre-approved credit card offer that was sent to you (especially if the document is thrown into the trash without being properly shredded) and apply for an account in your name with a new address. Nearly half (43%) of all identity fraud originates from stolen wallets and/or stolen paperwork. By removing yourself from these promotional mailing lists you can avoid this risk all together. Thankfully, it is pretty simple to have yourself removed from these lists. Just visit www.optoutprescreen.com to get started.

At HOPE we know that being a victim of identity fraud is a nightmare. Once a fraudulent account appears on your credit report it can been almost impossible to see it removed without having to pay for the account out of your own pocket unless professional assistance is used.  In fact, 70% of ID theft victims have difficulty removing the fraudulent information that resulted from ID theft from their credit reports (ITRC Aftermath Study).  If you have been a victim of ID theft (or you suspect that you have been a victim of ID theft) then we invite you to give our team of credit experts a call.  You can schedule a no-obligation credit analysis appointment with HOPE to see how much damage has been done to your credit report and what it will take to help you turn the situation around. For more information or to schedule your appointment please call 704-499-9696.  We would love to help you kick identity theft issues or any other credit issues you may be facing to the curb!

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The HOPE staff would like to congratulate Mr. Melendez of Charlotte, NC today for his recent success and credit report improvement!  Since joining HOPE, Mr. Melendez has seen his credit scores go from zero on all 3 credit bureaus up to the 600s with all 3 credit bureaus! To top off this great success he has also had $3,527 in negative, unverifiable debt erased from his credit report!

Every week the HOPE Program is proud and thrilled to help our members achieve their dreams of healthier credit and home ownership.  It’s true that the economy has damaged the credit reports of many, many good people in our country.  However, the great news is that, even if your credit scores are low, you have the legal right to work to improve them! We at HOPE firmly believe that having bad credit does NOT make someone a bad person. It gives us great pleasure to help our members recover their good names!

For more information about the services offered by the HOPE Program we please email us or give us a call at 704-499-9696.  Our friendly staff is standing by to receive your call. We would love to show you how the HOPE Program can help you to achieve your clean credit goals!

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Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft
Part 4
by Michelle Black

According to Wikipedia, “Identity theft is a form of fraud or cheating of another person’s identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person’s identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person’s name.”  As you know, identity theft can utterly destroy a person’s credit scores.  That’s why it is so important to protect yourself from this new and constantly growing form of fraud.  Today’s tip for protecting yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft is:

#4: Don’t Give Personal Information on the Phone Unless YOU Initiated the Call!
Scam artists and identity thieves would love to steal your credit card numbers, passwords, mother’s maiden names, and social security numbers.  Thieves often pretend to be bank representatives, collection agents, government officials, and even police officers in order to steal from the unsuspecting.  To give you an example, a HOPE member recently had a member of a collection agency call her and pose as a detective. The collection agent tried to get the member’s credit card number over the phone in order to “verify” her identity. Luckily the HOPE member stopped right there and hung up and called one of our HOPE Credit Experts. We were able to help her report the attempted fraud and avoid being subjected to unauthorized charges.

Feel free to stop back by our website all this week for more tips and hints on how you can protect yourself from identity fraud.  Educating yourself to the danger of identity fraud is the first step.  Don’t forget to share these articles with your online friends and family too by using our easy “share” buttons below.  Knowledge is power! We would love for you to help empower someone else today.

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Another HOPE member is excited (and so are we!) about some really fabulous results this week.  Joe saw nearly $5,500 ($5,451 to be exact) in unverifiable and inaccurate collection accounts deleted from his credit report in a span of just 3 and 1/2 months! Not only that, but his credit scores have also risen an average of 424 points per credit bureau during that same span of time! Joe’s has gone from having a middle credit score of 0 to having a middle score of 607 already.  With a little more work we anticipate that Joe will achieve the completely clean credit report he desires and even higher credit scores with which he can be very happy.

Remember, bad credit happens to good people all the time. The good news is that every single American legally has the right to turn their credit situation around! You have the right to work on your credit alone or with professionally guided assistance (which typically makes the process much faster, cheaper, and more effective). If you are interested in learning more about the great services offered by HOPE, please give us a call at 704-499-9696. Our credit experts would love to talk to you and answer your questions today.  We hope to hear from you soon!

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We just received news about one of our members that is so exciting we just couldn’t wait to post it!  A HOPE member had a credit report review done by her loan officer today and the results are, well, phenomenal!  We think that you will agree.

The member joined HOPE around 6 months ago with 32 negative collection accounts and over $41,000 in outstanding, negative debt.  Our staff has been hard at work on her behalf during her membership.  As of her new credit report today we are thrilled to announce some wonderful improvement:

157 point score increase in her middle credit score!
$22,738 in negative debt removed from her credit report!

The member has seen an average of $3,790 in debt removed from her credit report during each and every month of her HOPE membership PLUS an average monthly credit score increase of 26 points!  Now, that is what we at HOPE call a success story!  If you agree, please feel free to spread the word.  Your referrals and trust in the HOPE Program is highly valued and appreciated.  Congratulations again to our newest, very satisfied HOPE member!

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