You apply for a credit card and are turned down because of a low credit score, yet you know that you've always paid your accounts on time. A debt collector calls to demand payment on a six-month overdue account for a credit card you have never had. You receive a credit card in the mail that you've never applied for.

What's happening? You could be the victim of identity theft, where an imposter is using your personal information to obtain credit. Then when the thief does not pay the bills, the company itself or a debt collection company contacts you to demand payment. As a result, your credit report is likely to contain negative information about your bill-payment history, and your credit score has probably been lowered considerably, making it difficult or impossible to obtain new credit yourself.

This guide provides victims of identity theft with instructions on how to regain your financial health and who to contact for more help. You must act quickly and assertively to minimize the damage.

Alert UNFCU, as well as other creditors and financial institutions, by telephone and in writing about the situation and discuss next steps concerning your membership. Close all accounts you believe have been tampered. 

Report the crime to the police. Ask the police to issue a police report to submit to your creditors and others that may require proof of the crime.

Keep copies of correspondence and documents related to the theft. 

If you have a U.S. Social Security Number, contact the fraud departments of one of the three major credit bureaus (Equifax (1-800-685-111), Experian (1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742) and Trans Union (1-800- 888-4213). Request to have a "Fraud Alert/Victim Impact" statement placed in your credit file asking for creditors to call you before opening any new accounts. As soon as the credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the other two credit bureaus will be automatically notified to place fraud alerts.

Read on...

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Vince brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Brooks Insurance Services.  Vince is a 1984 graduate of Pepperdine University with a degree in Economics.  He was the founder of one of the largest insurance agencies in Ventura County prior to joining our firm. 

Vince resides in Thousand Oaks with his wife, Lisa and daughter, Zoey.

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Seinfeld OK After Scary Car Wreck

The funnyman survived unscathed a frightening car wreck in the Hamptons last weekend after the brakes suddenly failed on the vintage Fiat he was driving, causing the vehicle to flip over.

According to the authorities, Seinfeld was motoring by himself along Skimhampton Road in East Hampton when the harrowing accident occurred at about 7:40 p.m. Saturday.

The 53-year-old comic's car was headed directly toward a busy Montauk Highway when he lost control, forcing him to swerve drastically to the right to halt the 1967 Fiat BTM's momentum.

"He attempted his brakes which failed forcing him to pull his emergency brake and cut the wheel to avoid traffic," read the police report.

The two-door sedan rolled over onto its passenger side, then the roof, before coming to rest just several feet shy of the other vehicles at an intersection on the driver's side.

Read on...

FUNNY how urban myths get started. Take the one about hands-free cell phone devices being safer than using one hand to hold the phone and the other to steer your Hummer. According to a Harvard study, it's as dangerous to use a hands-free set as it is to hold the phone itself to your ear.

And just how safe is it to do either? The same study found that a driver using a cell phone, whether hands-free or hands-on, is four times more likely to get into a crash than those who concentrated on driving alone.

(For non-techies, a hands-free device, usually an inexpensive earpiece, is connected to a cell phone with a wire or wirelessly. Some phones have a feature called voice dialing. Turn on your phone and say, "Call Mom," and it finds Mom's number and calls her. More about that later.)

Another study, noted in published reports last week, found that drivers who used cell phones performed about as dangerously as if they were legally drunk. Drunken drivers, the study concluded, actually had fewer rear-end collisions than cell phone users.

On July 1, drivers in California face a $20 fine for a first offense if they aren't using a hands-free device while on the phone behind the wheel.

Talk about feel-good, do-nothing legislation. Some big companies are leaping ahead of states that already restrict cell phone use by issuing outright bans on yakking behind the wheel.