CHICAGO, Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- TransUnion today has activated a
special hotline intended to assist California residents who have either
lost their homes or have been temporarily forced to relocate as a result of
the recent devastating wildfires in the state. The hotline, manned by
customer service representatives at the credit reporting company's Fraud
Victim Assistance center in California, will help those impacted by the
fires to obtain an updated copy of their TransUnion credit report and have
it quickly delivered to the mailing address of their choice.
"From a credit standpoint, there are really two primary factors that
face consumers at a time like this," said Diane Terry, TransUnion senior
director of Fraud Victim Assistance. "The first is working to ensure that
no personal financial information becomes accessible to outsiders at or
around the home site and the second is checking to make sure that this
hasn't already occurred by carefully reviewing a current, updated copy of
your credit report." The credit reporting company also advises consumers to
notify creditors of their situation. In this way, creditors can report
accounts as having been affected by a natural disaster, rather than
delinquent, in the event that the consumer misses payments due to the
wildfires.
Regardless of whether a consumer has received his or her free credit
report from TransUnion in the past twelve months, residents impacted by the
wildfires will be able to secure a new, updated copy of their report from
the company by calling the special hotline number: (888) 836-4719 between
the hours of 6:00 am - 4:30 pm PST. As always, callers will be thoroughly
screened for identity verification prior to providing these services.
TransUnion's representatives at this number can also address general
questions and concerns consumers may have regarding related fraud and
identity theft issues. "TransUnion is to be commended for taking a
proactive step to assist California consumers in need," said Joanne McNabb,
chief of the California Office of Privacy Protection.
In addition to the free credit report they can obtain once every twelve
months from each the credit reporting companies, California residents also
have the ability to place a cautionary fraud alert on all three of their
credit files at no cost. Confirmed victims of identity theft in the state
can also freeze their credit files at no cost, while non-victims can do so
for a fee. Many Californians also now subscribe to credit monitoring
services in order to stay abreast of ever-changing information in their
credit reports. TransUnion's http://www.truecredit.com offers consumers
unlimited access to their three reports and scores, email alerts of
critical changes to those credit reports, the ability to lock and unlock
their TransUnion credit report online to help prevent identity theft and a
host of other features including $25,000 in identity theft insurance. "From
a fraud perspective, knowing what's currently contained in your credit
reports allows you to quickly detect signs of potential fraud," added
Terry. "And early detection can really minimize the often devastating
impact of this type of crime."
About TransUnion
As a global leader in credit and information management, TransUnion
creates advantages for millions of people around the world by gathering,
analyzing and delivering information. For businesses, TransUnion helps
improve efficiency, manage risk, reduce costs and increase revenue by
delivering comprehensive data and advanced analytics and decisioning. For
consumers, TransUnion provides the tools, resources and education to help
manage their credit health and achieve their financial goals. Through these
and other efforts, TransUnion is working to build stronger economies
worldwide. Founded in 1968 and headquartered in Chicago, TransUnion employs
more than 4,000 employees in more than 30 countries on six continents.
http://www.transunion.com
SOURCE TransUnion
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Related links:
http://www.transunion.com
http://www.truecredit.com
CONTACT:
Steven Katz of TransUnion, +1-312-985-2373,
skatz@transunion.com
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