7 ID Theft Prevention Reasons to Check your Non Credit Public Information

Credit reports alone can not tell you if an identity
thief has used your name in these ways:

1. rented, purchased, or transferred property
2. applied for a government-issued license
3. opened an insurance policy
4. has acquired a criminal record
5. declared bankruptcy
6. need to correct errors in your public information
   caused by identity theft or just simply confusion with
   other similar named people
7. dozens of other negative reportings resulting from
   a divorce or a problematic family member with access
   to your automobile and last name

These type of data are routinely accessed by employers
who conduct background checks. But, consumers have
not enjoyed that same level of access until recently.

To proactively manage your identity with an early
warning system, we urge consumers to consider a public
records search in addition to regular credit
monitoring. The problem has always been how do you
easily search across the hundreds of federal, state, &
local data repositories in existence which may hold
negative reporting information under your name.

We recently learned of a new resource which can
provide your consolidated Public Information Profile
(PIP). This PIP, provided by a Virginia based firm
known as MyPublicInfo.com, is a detailed summary of
the vast quantity of information available to others
about you. MyPublicInfo.com sifts through more than 10
billion records to verify your identity and build your
PIP.

A typical PIP report may include data from:

• Federal, State and County records
• Financial records like bankruptcies, liens and
  judgments
• Property ownership records, including one billion
  acres of satellite and aerial photos
• Government-issued and other licenses
• Law enforcement records on felony and misdemeanor
  convictions
• UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) records that reveal
  the availability of assets for attachment or seizure,
  and the financial relationship between an individual
  and other entities.

So, our tip for today is to request your PIP to extend
your id theft prevention strategy from just credit based sources.