Credit Report Report

When you're a college student, every day is a busy one: there's activities and events, a sometimes packed class schedule, trying to slot in internships and part-time or even full-time jobs. You know it's a time to hustle and make things happen. Which makes you the perfect target for identity thieves who know you have no time to respond to an attack. A recent study showed that 22% of students didn't discover they'd become the victims of identity theft until they were contacted by a debt collector. Learn how a little time with your credit up front can help you stay on top of the dark efforts of schemers trying to capture your identity.

When they have every resource to know better, increasing numbers of millennials are turning to payday loan centers to fulfill their needs for quick cash these days. Learn more about what's at the heart of this disturbing new trend, and what it means for their ability to save for the future to get ahead down the road.

For some, tax time means going back to a shoebox of loose receipts they’ve tossed in as the months flew by. Now that it’s time to revisit those expenses, make sure you’re including everything that qualifies for you – and that you’re evaluating how to get better set up for next year. Don’t fear the shoebox – make it work for you!

It can sometimes seem that, as often as they happen, data breaches are just a part of our everyday lives at this point. And if you haven't yet been affected, that it's only a matter of time. As breaches continue to hit businesses both large and small, learning what to do first before you need to put it into practice can be a useful lesson. More good news? Recent studies indicate that companies progressively have more and increasingly comprehensive response plans to cyber threats and security gaps. According to experts, however, it's not enough across the spectrum of businesses to catch up to where their practices should be. Discover more about where businesses are now versus where they should be, and what that means for the rest of us, in this episode of the Credit Report REPORT.

We know that carrying some amount of debt is a reality for many Americans: and that's not a bad thing when you keep up with your payments and have a plan to bring that balance down to zero at some point. But, recent findings from a report by the Urban Institute indicate that a surprising amount - more than one-third - of Americans have debt that's gone unpaid and progressed on to collections. Even more surprising is that the average amount of debt in collections is close to $5000: not a small sum. To learn more about how others are or aren't keeping up with their repament plans, listen in to this episode of the Credit Report REPORT.

The holidays are always a challenging time to keep to your budget:with gifts to buy and trees to trim, it can feel impossible to make it all happen without breaking the bank. Recent reports indicate that while Americans paid off a serious about of their debt on average, seasonal spending also increased. Experts shared that they've known consumers had a sustained desire to begin spending again, and the recent resurgence has brought average household credit card debt up to nearly $7000. As the holidays approach, don't lose track of your regular plans to keep your budget merry and bright with the information in this episode of the Credit Report REPORT.

Higher education is definitely a pursuit that can bring great value, but it's also one that can lave you shouldering some debt for an extended period of time. While educational debt by itself often isn't overwhelming, when it's added into a mix of other debt you may have accrued, it can certainly become a bigger concern. Also, beyond the hard costs of line items like room and board, students have other costs during their collegiate years that should be projected: this is often one of the reasons that college is the time where young adults open their first credit card, and test the waters of how responsibly they use credit. For findings as well as some recommendations courtesy of a recent Forbes interview with Beverly Harzog, join this episode of the Credit Report REPORT.

The fastest growing crime in the nation? If you thought of identity theft, you guessed right. There's no shortage of ways that hackers and hucksters seek to gain access to your information for a variety of purposes. Need to brush up on a few of the most important ways to keep your information secure online? Join this episode of the Credit Report REPORT, and make sure you can stay on guard against some scams and suggestive behaviors that open the door to your personal information.

With costs rising into the billions, tax-related fraud is a growing concern for many, and a golden opportunity for aggressive identity thieves. When so much of your identification information is contained in one single document, it's an opportunity that criminals don't want to pass up. Crooks and scammers have several methods at their disposal to try and capture your information, either by swiping your information or getting you to enter it into a site that they control. While a significant majority of tax filers plan to submit their information online, identity thieves have been at work developing methods to capture information in the real and digital worlds alike. For more on how they intervene to collect your information, and how to stay a step ahead of them, join this episode of the Credit Report REPORT.

With as often as a data breach has been in the headlines recently, many Americans are thinking of the potential risks that data breaches can pose to their own information for the very first time. In 2013 alone, nearly half of all businesses reported a security or data breach of some kind - a major increase from just the year before. What can this increase in vulnerabilities mean for consumers at large? For a set of predictions about the road ahead for consumers and the security of their data, join this episode and listen along to thoughts shared in this Credit Report REPORT.

2015 began with the great announcement that now, for the first time ever, a FICO Score powered by Experian data would be available. News of the brand-new offer to members as the cornerstone of Experian Credit Tracker received coverage in several outlets, and you'll hear highlights from outlets including the Wall Street Journal and Reuters. For a full rundown of the reviews, commentary and more, join this episode of the Credit Report REPORT.

As data breaches continue to proliferate, and the far-reaching nature of their impacts continue to increase, it can seem that they're as common an occurrence as a trip to the grocery store. That's why Experian's ProtectMyID® was proud to extend the support of leading card fraud monitoring mobile app BillGuard to its members to enhance their ability to protect the forms of identification most susceptible to a breach. Adding this layer of protection where many consumers need it most - in their wallet - made all the sense in the world at a time when the uncertainty and potential for an intrusive breach are causing consumers to worry about their credit in increasing measures, according to a recent exploratory survey. Learn more about how BillGuard enhances protection for ProtectMyID members, in this episode of the Credit Report REPORT.

As the lives we lead happen increasingly on-the-go, it can be a challenge to find the time to look over your financial records in the traditional sense. For one thing, you have to be with them--or bring them along with you. That requires some careful planning to know when you'll be free to review them, and carting your personal documents around isn't the most secure method of storing your valuable data. That's why so many people are embracing financial apps to help them set goals, stay connected, and track their progress day-to-day. A recent study by Experian indicates that 46 percent of those with financial apps report they feel more confident and in control of their finances. If it's time for you to consider taking financial accountability with you in an ever busier life, you may want to consider April the month you start tracking your goals with a mobile app. A small change today can help deliver brighter financial tomorrows for you and yours.

Don't miss your last chance to check in with your finances and spring clean them to look their best before summer fun takes its toll on your wallet. Freshen up your spending habits to ensure they're not getting out of control.

How can you fight hackers from inside your own system? It's a question that both businesses and individuals have to deal with when they become the victim of a malware attack. The Masque attack is just one such type of malware invasion that skims personal information after presenting itself as a click-to-activate link, and then serves it up to bidders via hacker networks out on the dark web. Malware has been the access point for some of the largest recent data breaches because it can so closely the look of legitimate software or platforms. Be on guard once you get the update in this episode of the Credit Report REPORT.

Just as other businesses, industries, and governments do, Experian analysts delivered the fifth annual State of Credit report to identify issues, trends and benchmark data for the year. Among their key findings: a recent indication that, over the past decade, credit card use has declined sharply among young credit users due to changing attitudes and perceptions about the value of credit and how to successfully manage their finances in challenging economic times. For this and more detail from the 2014 State of Credit report by Experian, join this episode of the Credit Report REPORT.

Your credit card information is one of the most alluring things to identity thieves trying to poach your identity, and in today’s digital world, it can live in a million different places. The addition of chip-and-pin technology to credit cards is one of the ways that card issuers are trying to fight current high levels of information theft. Chip-and-PIN technology has already become the standard for credit card issuers in recent years in other parts of the world with positive effects. But listen in to learn why some in the payments space have concerns about how effective the addition of chip-and-PIN can be without other supporting measures. Recent study findings from the Ponemon Institute demonstrate their growing concerns, and how approaches and responses have shifted in light of the major data breaches that occurred in 2014.

In your finances, there are things that you control, and then there are a few elect things outside your control – like interest rates. One of the biggest financial news stories of the year so far is the Fed's recent decision to raise interest rates for the first time in ten years, triggering alarm bells for some in the banking world. Listen in to learn what experts are saying, and see what that likely means for your current portfolio.

The holidays are the perfect time for many fraudsters to strike, given how busy most people are. Between parties and gifting and travel for many, clever tricksters up their game each year to capture your private info under the guise of goodwill and cheer. Learn more about their latest schemes so you won’t be taken in when you see telltale signs in your inbox or on social media.