I was reading an interesting article about how just about anyone can get free identity theft protection if they are willing to put in the time and effort to do it on their own.

There were a number of nice tips in this article that I was not previously aware of, including:

You can place a “Fraud Alert” on your credit report simply by calling one of the three credit bureaus. These alerts expire after three months, so you will have to call to renew it each time they expire, but you only have to call one of the credit bureaus since they will automatically alert the others.

An additional benefit of placing a Fraud Alert on your credit report is that it makes you eligible for a free copy of your report and that applies every time you renew the alert, so you can get frequent updates on your report without having to pay extra like you would under other circumstances.

You can also place something called a “Credit Freeze” on your report which means nobody can access it even if they have your social security number until you provide a personal identification number to allow it.

The credit bureaus typically charge a $10 fee to activate a freeze, but that fee may be waived for people over 65 years of age.

Just be aware that placing these alerts on your report can delay things for you if you are trying to get on-the-spot credit for a car loan or something.

Another good tip is the use of credit cards as opposed to credit cards. Credit cards have more protection for the consumers by law and consumers rarely have to pay for fraudulent charges made with a credit card.

The above is quite true and I know it for a fact since I have been on the other side of a fraudulent credit card transaction and as a merchant, I had to give back the entire purchase price as well as a $20 penalty fee the credit card processing company charged me for having the nerve to be a victim of a crime! That’s quite a money-making racket they have going there — the credit card processing companies that is!

Another disadvantage of using a debit card is that the money is usually taken right from your checking account when you use it, and it can be more of a hassle to get your money back in your account than it is to just dispute a charge on a credit card.

It’s also a good idea to avoid writing checks since they have more personal information associated with them. Especially if a store clerk writes your address, telephone number or driver’s license number on it.

Besides, you’ll be doing a favor for people like me who hate getting stuck behind someone in the checkout line who holds everyone else up by writing a check. There’s a good reason for all you checkout-line check writers to get a credit card and start using that instead!

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