Totally Free Credit Reports

Pretexting
Pretexting is the obtaining of your personal information under false pretenses. The thief then use the information or sells it to others. A criminal no longer needs to steal a wallet or a purse, all he needs is your Social Security number, a credit card number or your bank account information. Which is a good reason to get totally free credit reports, so you can spot this kind of trouble before it gets out of hand.

Pretexting in action
A pretexter can check the public divorce records and find his victim's Social Security number in the financial documents. Then he can call up a credit bureau claiming to be a landlord checking on a renter's credit. The bureau sends him the report and he has all that's needed to ruin that person's credit. The victim is then left to deal with the angry creditors who hound him for accounts he never used.

Another pretexter
If you ever get pre-approved credit card applications, you could be a pretexter's victim. Unless you shred the application before throwing it out, a pretexter could steal it and send it into the credit card company using his address. And without seeing totally free credit reports, you wouldn't know that someone was running up a credit card account under your name. They could then use that credit card number as a reference and open up other accounts to do even more damage.

Protection
Awareness is the key to keeping your private information private. Getting totally free credit reports is an easy first step, but there are others. Anytime you give out personal information, ask if it's necessary and who will have access to it. Don't give out information over the phone unless you called them or you're certain who you're talking to. Shred any documents with personal information before throwing them out. Carry only the few credit or ATM cards you need. Destroy credit card carbons and voided receipts. And basically treat all those IDs and numbers as the important assets that they are.