This is the time of year during which most of us will have our credit cards and debit cards out of our wallets more than ever. Holiday shopping, no matter how much we have tightened our belts this year, still causes us to hit the stores with credit in hand – charging up a storm while simultaneously dreading the bill that will follow.

But bills aren’t the only reason to be wary of the more frequent use of our credit cards this holiday season. The physical act of taking this card out of our wallet means that we are more at risk to identity thieves. Whether they glean our information from a quick and experienced glance over our shoulders at the checkout line, or by hacking into what we think are secured pages on the Internet, the fact is that the possibility of our information falling into the wrong hands is a very real one.

In order to stay on top of our information and nip any possibility of identity theft in the bud, making sure to get frequent copies of our credit report is the smart thing to do. The three credit bureaus that are responsible for collecting information for our credit report – and subsequently disseminating it to potential lenders – are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Each credit bureau is required by government regulations to provide each consumer one free credit report a year. Through an online clearinghouse we can order a free credit report from each of the credit bureaus in a matter of minutes.

These free credit reports will certainly alert us to any inaccuracies on our credit report; but more than that, it will give us an immediate notification if something just does not look right – giving us the forewarning that an identity theft may have taken place and allowing us to go straight to the authorities before any more damage is done.

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