Consumer Car Buying Advice Blog

From the Federal Trade Commission comes advice that could help keep your personal information secure during a credit repair auto loan

Your identity

Even as you’re rebuilding your car credit with a no credit auto loan there’s always the chance that your personal information could be stolen.

Here at Auto Credit Express we have seen this happen during the more than two decades we’ve been helping car buyers with less than perfect credit.

Reducing your identity theft risks

We’re very careful about protecting the identity of applicants at Auto Credit Express. For one thing, our credit application is SSL encrypted. But what can you do, as an individual, to ensure that your personal information is secure?

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), there are actually a number of steps that can be taken to minimize the risk of having someone steal your identity:

1. Protect your social security number – Don’t carry your social security card with you. If a health insurer or your state driver’s license bureau uses your SSN for an identifier, request that they use another number. While your social security number is needed for tax and credit check purposes by employers and businesses, if your are asked to furnish it for any other reason, ask why and how it will be used, how they will protect your information and what will happen if you don’t give it to them.
2. Be careful with your trash and mail – shred any credit-related documents, including offers of credit from credit card companies. Deposit mail containing sensitive information directly in collection boxes or at the post office. When going on vacation, have the post office hold your mail.
3. Be cautious when using the internet – use only trusted sites and never submit your personal information over a non-encrypted connection.
4. Use strong passwords – use a combination of letters (upper and lower case) and numbers as well as symbols. Never use your name, birth date or a portion of your SSN or consecutive letter/number combinations.
5. Verify sources – never give information over the phone, through the mail or over the internet without first knowing exactly who you are dealing with.
6. Safeguard your purse and wallet – only carry the information that you need and the credit cards that you need.
7. Keep all your personal information in a safe place – In addition, ask those business that have access to your information how it will be handled, stored and the methods of disposal once it’s no longer needed.

The Bottom Line

You can never be too careful when it comes to protecting your personal information. Keep in mind that you should be extremely cautious about sharing your information. You should also verify the legitimacy of any organization before sharing any information with them.

There is just one more thing: if you have bad credit and you haven’t started the auto credit repair process, we want you to know that Auto Credit Express can help you find a dealer for your best chance at an auto loan approval.

If you’re ready to begin, you can set about doing that now by filling out our online car loans application.

Tags: Bad Credit, identity theft

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