Misty Hensley from SECU

The program today at the Marion Rotary Club was “Combating Identity Theft” led by Misty Hensley from the State Employees Credit Union.

Interesting facts:  NC ranks 21st in the nation in ID theft, most of it (27%) with credit card fraud.

As it relates to real estate, as Misty noted – your credit report is maybe your most important asset and a huge part of loans.  So you must guard it!

I’ve been the victim of credit card fraud (on a vacation in Florida) and it did no damage but it was a hassle talking to the police, shifting around money, etc.

I recommend (as does Misty) a credit monitoring service.  I use a service from MyFico.com but Experian and several credit related agencies offers the same.  It sends an alert directly to you when a report is pulled, an account has a balance increase, etc.