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Credit thieves can hit anyone. Some Utah residents have been hit more than once within the last 12 months. But what specifically should you look for as you keep an eye on your credit?
Many people in Utah can relate to part of what Taylorsville resident Lee Yates is going through. More than a million Social Security numbers were on University of Utah Health Sciences' tapes stolen from a courier.
"We got a letter from them saying that our information was among that group of records," Yates said.
Although investigators don't think his information was actually accessed, he took advantage of the University of Utah's offer for free credit monitoring for a year. But then he was hit with another blow.
"Approximately 30 days ago we received a letter from Countrywide letting us know that one of their employees had sold our private information and our Social Security numbers," he said.
Countrywide offered Yates two years of Creditwatch services, but he wasn't able to get what Countrywide promised him.
"We went to sign up for it on the Internet, and it indicated that we were already signed up for it [from the University of Utah incident], so we were unable to sign up for it on the Internet," he said.
Yates will try again to get the two years of Creditwatch he was offered, but even if he does get it, he doesn't think it's enough. Although his identity hasn't been used yet, he feels it's just a matter of time before it is. So, since his identity is compromised forever, he feels Countrywide should pay for credit monitoring forever.
"I never will feel safe and the reason is, it will always be out there. This individual who worked for Countrywide sold it to someone, and I'm sure they bought it with the intent of using it for devious purposes," he said.
But people can monitor their own credit, and if they do it the right way, it doesn't act like a hit on your credit line.
Genesis Credit Service Director of Commercial Business Operation Becky Brady said, "If you contact the credit bureau and got a credit without a score, it is not an inquiry. It's considered a soft inquiry."
Brady says anyone who feels their identity is in question shouldn't really be looking for their score anyway.
"Watch for [new] addresses. Watch for any variations in his name." She added, "Look for any different Social Security numbers going on the file, and then yes, credit information as far as they've opened any new credit cards."
Brady says people should go to credit Web sites like freecreditreport.com about every 30 days. But victims like Lee Yates say thieves could do severe damage within 30 days.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
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