Free credit reports free Kansas City

USDA is in the process of notifying, via mail, the approximately 38,700 people whose information might have been exposed and offering them free credit monitoring for one year. At this point there is no evidence that any missing data has been used illegally. Department of Agriculture is asking all persons who may have been affected to be extra vigilant and to carefully monitor free credit reports free Kansas City bank statements, credit card statements, and any statements relating to recent financial transactions, free credit reports free Kansas City and to immediately report any suspicious or unusual activity. For tips on how to guard against misuse of personal information, visit the Federal Trade Commission website at http://www.ftc.gov/. You do not have to close your bank account or cancel your credit cards. You should, however, take steps to protect yourself against identity theft. One way to monitor your financial accounts is to review your credit report.

By law you are entitled to one free credit report each year. Request a free credit report from one of the three major credit bureaus - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion - at http://www.AnnualCreditReport.com or by calling 1-877-322-8228. The Department of Agriculture is offering one year of free credit monitoring to affected Farm Services Agency and Rural Development funding recipients, as described in the USDA press release at http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2007/04/0105.xml. view online credit report USDA funding recipients who wish to take advantage of the credit monitoring offer will be provided with instructions for how to register. Any USDA free credit reports free Kansas City funding recipient with additional questions may call 1-800-FED-INFO (1-800-333-4636). Identity theft occurs when your personal information is stolen and used without your knowledge to commit fraud or other crimes.

The Department of Agriculture strongly recommends that individuals closely monitor their financial statements and call FTC's Identity Theft Hotline at 1-877-438-4338 or visit them online at http://www.consumer.free credit reports free Kansas City gov/idtheft. The Department of Agriculture does not believe that it is necessary to contact financial institutions or cancel credit cards and bank accounts, unless you detect suspicious activity. The Federal Trade Commission recommends the following four steps if you detect suspicious activity: Step 1 Contact the fraud department of one of the three major credit bureaus: Step 2 Close any accounts that have been tampered with or opened fraudulently. Step 3 File a police report with your local police or the police in the community where the identity theft took free credit reports free Kansas City place. Step 4 File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission by using the FTC's Identity Theft Hotline: The Department of Agriculture has set up a toll-free telephone number for individuals that features up-to-date news and information. credit check score If you receive an official notification letter from the Department of Agriculture, you are eligible to activate one year of free credit monitoring. You will receive one letter that serves as your notification letter and a second letter that provides instructions for how to activate the credit monitoring. The second letter you receive from the Department of Agriculture free credit reports free Kansas City will contain specific instructions on how to activate your service.

There are specific instructions unique to the USDA event and information to activate your credit monitoring. Call 1-800-FED-INFO or the contact information contained in the notification letter to verify free credit reports free Kansas City the authentication of your letter. USDA has previously bolstered efforts to protect private identification information by assigning a team of information security specialists to review the records free credit reports free Kansas City of all 17 USDA agencies. USDA is now expediting and broadening the scope of its information security review. Also, the Department of Agriculture is offering one year of free credit monitoring to Farm Services Agency and Rural Development funding recipients. USDA funding recipients who wish to take advantage of the credit monitoring offer will be provided with instructions for how to register.

Any USDA funding recipient with additional questions may call 1-800-FED-INFO (free credit reports free Kansas City 1-800-333-4636). ftc.gov free credit report We are providing as much information as we have about the incident free credit reports free Kansas City and alerting affected individuals of the situation.