How Effective is The Equifax Fraud Alert System?

By now, most people already understand that they are going to have to do something if they want to keep track of their own credit ratings instead of being shown that they aren't eligible for car financing, a home loan or a job they have been seeking, at the last minute. However, knowing this hasn't always triggered them to act and as a result, they do find these negative things out about their credit report precisely when it can do the most damage to their hopes and dreams. Since the growing sector of credit reporting services for consumers, rather than simply for businesses to judge a consumer's credit, continues to grow, it makes sense for today's average person to get on board with some level of service that can keep track of what is going on with their credit so they have a general understanding of its current status.

The real reason many people want to keep tabs on this part of their financial life is not just because they worry about not having the right level of credit when they need it, but because identity theft and credit fraud have become so rampant as criminals get more savvy about the way they take your money. In today's highly digitized world we rarely do business face to face like we did in the old days and this has made it not only convenient for us to do business on a global level, it has made it equally easy for thieves to try and take what is not theirs. People have been ruined and it sometimes takes quite a long time to get things back on track. This is what has created the strong consumer demand for constant credit monitoring and that is what several different companies now provide products designed to deal with.

Equifax is one of the leading providers of credit monitoring and repair services. The company has been in business since 1899 when it was originally called The Retail Credit Company. Equifax is one of the major 3 consumer credit reporting agencies in the world, operating across 14 different countries from their head office in Atlanta, Georgia. The company used to deal primarily with business to business credit reporting, but recently they entered the market of consumer credit reports and have begun to offer a variety of different services and products that are designed to meet the needs of the average person in today's fast paced world. One of the primary products they offer is called Credit Watch Gold, a 3 in 1 Monitoring system that alerts you if your credit is either looked into by a business or if any sort of suspected fraud is detected by their network. Since they have more than 7,000 employees working for them, their ability to catch bad things before they turn to worse is exceptionally high.

Compared to other major credit agencies such as Experian and TransUnion that offer reports to consumers, one of the strengths of Equifax's Credit Watch Gold program is that they are able to track all three of the major databases for problems. This is quite a lot of coverage for the average consumer and has lead many reviewers to state they got an instant feeling of peace of mind after knowing that they could get the 24 hour a day instant fraud alerts any time anything remotely suspicious appeared on their credit reports. It should be noted that Equifax's service does let you know if something goes wrong, but they do not actually pursue the criminals who have done this. Other services from specific companies that specialize in that sort of business would need to be obtained. Usually a trusted law firm is chosen for this task since it is a complex legal situation.

That being said, it should be noted that without being alerted to the fraud in the first place, especially if you do not find out until months or years later, you can never move forward with the necessary steps that will be needed to repair your own credit. For $15 a month, Credit Watch Gold lets you customize the alerts that you get so you can decide not only what you want to be notified about, but the level of frequency you are interested in receiving the alerts at. With this kind of intensive control over the alerts you do not have to worry about getting a panic when you have simply done something normal that triggered an inquiry into your credit. The array of options available to Equifax customers is impressive and one of the things they are noted for is the fact that they have managed to boil down a credit report into easy to read graphs that showcase the data they are able to collect.

This makes it a good deal easier for the average person to understand what they are looking at and as a result, they do not need to call in for help from customer service. This is a smart move for Equifax and consumers alike because it leads to much shorter hold times when a genuine problem is encountered. The company prides itself on offering comprehensive protection and although they do not pursue fraud themselves, they do offer up to $1 million in identity theft insurance that is worth checking out for those who want an extra level of service. While Equifax's Credit Watch Gold costs a bit more than some other services, the fact that they keep tabs on all the 3 major US databases definitely makes them quite a solid choice for those who prefer a higher end type of credit monitoring. The alerts are also able to be sent via email or over a text message if the customer prefers. The level of customization is definitely a nice bonus.

All told, Equifax Credit Watch Gold 3 in 1 Monitoring definitely gets the job done at a reasonable price for those who have even the slightest concern about identity theft - and all of us should - plus, it gives an easy to understand way to keep tabs on our own reports which puts the power in our hands instead of leaving us at the mercy of big business.