Within the last twelve months, 9.3 million Americans were victims of identity theft. While this may seem like a lot, it’s actually a decrease from past years. But what is growing is the monetary loss associated with each theft. Fewer identities are being stolen due to more people knowing how to protect themselves. But if you are ever unlucky enough to be struck by identity theft, here are a few things you can do to gain back your good name.

If you are ever the victim of identity theft, first go to the police and file a report. The reason you need to do this is simple: to establish the time of discovery and what actions you have taken since the theft. Give the police copies of all relevant documents pertaining to the case. Be as detailed as possible when listing all your creditors, cards and anything else affected. And obtain a copy of the police report, to refer back to later.

The next step is to contact the credit reporting agencies; Experian, Equifax and Transunion. This will place a 90 day fraud alert on your identity. If anyone tries to open a line of credit, you will be contacted to verify your information. They will also issue you your credit reports. Once you get a copies of your credit reports, review each report and list all creditors affected. Contact those creditors directly and tell them of the theft. Close the fraudulent accounts and dispute any charges.

Lastly, file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. By sharing your identity theft complaint with the FTC, you will provide important information that can help law enforcement officials across the nation track down identity thieves and stop them. Read more…

Its no secret that the debt of the average American citizen is rising. Wages are being outpaced by growing inflation and with the possibility of a recession, things aren’t looking any better. Among the people affected the most are students. Below are statistics about student debt and loans that everyone should know, whether they’ve been to college or not.

Today, more than ever before, more students are borrowing to cover their college expenses. By the time they graduate, nearly two-thirds of students at four-year colleges and universities have student loan debt (66% in 2004). In 1993, less than one-half of four-year graduates had student loans, compare that to 2004 when over 60% of graduates from public universities had student loans. Read more…

According to credit industry statistics, there were 1.3 billion (yes, billion) credit cards in circulation in the United States in 2004. That’s an average of 4.3 credit cards per person. With those credit cards people have racked up more than $2.2 trillion in purchases and cash advances on in just this last year.

For Americans it has become a habit to spend money that they just don’t have. This problem is made worse by the fact that fewer cardholders are paying their credit cards bills on time. The percentage of people delinquent on their credit cards is the highest it’s been in three years and that statistic shows no sigh of stopping.

A 2004 statistic shows that 39% of Americans, on average, pay their cards off in full each month, which is a great strategy to avoid accruing interest. But this also means that the remainder of the population, roughly 60%, is carrying a credit card balance.

Another interesting statistic is that the average American has access to approximately $19,000 across all credit cards combine. From that stat its easy to see why credit card debt overall has grown by 315 percent from 1989 to 2006. Read more…

I’d like to thank Laura Moran from TheStreet.com for writing about this site in her recent article How to Get Someone Else to Pay Your Student Loans. The article takes a look at the alternatives other people have thought of to pay off their student loans.

One of those chronicled in her article is Luke Livingston. Upon graduating college, Livingston thought of an interesting way to pay off his student loans. He started a website called sponsormyloans.com, where he offers to provide advertising and ad space on his website to anyone willing to pay $200 each month. He is hopeful that more businesses will advertise, thus sponsoring his student loan payment for the month. Read more…