SnowbirdAlert Errors in your credit report could be a sign of fraud Many Canadians work hard to keep their finances on solid ground and do their best to make smart decisions when budgeting and saving. Your credit report is a powerful source of facts about your finances, so why not make it a practice to review your own report regularly? Consider it to be your own economic health checkup. Credit reporting agencies TransUnion Canada and Equifax Canada generate reports when you apply for credit. These reports include information about your bank accounts, your credit usage, whether you have declared bankruptcy and your debt payment history. They also include information about the people and the companies who have made inquiries about your creditworthiness – which represents the degree to which you are in a financial position that is sound enough to warrant receiving credit from a lender. You should review your credit report for any mistakes. False information about your credit history may indicate that someone is using your name to fraudulently obtain and use credit. If there are errors on your report, ask the credit reporting agencies to make a correction. You may be able to speed up the process by contacting the lender yourself about the error. Ask the lender to verify its files and provide the credit reporting agencies with updated information. Contact TransUnion Canada or Equifax Canada and ask them to put a fraud alert on your file if you feel that you have been a victim of fraud. The alert will tell lenders to contact you and confirm your identity before they approve any credit or loan applications. You also have the right to dispute any information on your credit report that you believe is wrong. “Any incorrect information may give lenders the wrong impression of your creditworthiness,” says Lucie Tedesco, commissioner of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC). “You could be turned down for a loan or receive a higher interest rate than you should. Even errors such as a misspelled name or a wrong address could cause problems when you apply for credit.” More information about the importance of checking your credit report is available on the FCAC website at itpaystoknow. gc.ca. www.newscanada.com Tips and safeguards for avoidingSCAMS! ■■ Keep all personal documents in a secure place. If you don’t need them, do not carry your birth certificate, passport or SIN card. ■■ Never tell another person your PIN or account passwords and take care to cover your hand when entering your PIN, both at bank machines and when making store purchases. ■■ Safely dispose of old bills and statements – shredding is best. ■■ Do not click on pop-up windows or respond to e-mails, open attachments or go to Website links sent by people you do not know. Your bank or credit union will not send you anything by e-mail unless you ask them to. ■■ Never give out your credit card, bank account or personal information to someone over the phone, at the door, or over the Internet unless you know the person or organization you are dealing with, or you made the contact. ■■ Do not sign an agreement or contract to buy anything without giving yourself time to think it over. If a salesperson insists that an “offer” is “time-limited” and you must decide at that moment, it is probably better not to buy. ■■ Be suspicious if someone you don’t know asks you to send them money or a cheque, or to return money which they “accidentally” sent you. ■■ Before hiring someone or agreeing to have work done on your home, ask for proof of identity and references…and check them. CBSA Entry/Exit InitiativeUPDATE Currently, Canada and the U.S. exchange biographic entry information on third-country nationals, permanent residents of Canada who are not U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents of the U.S. who are not Canadian citizens, at land ports of entry. Both countries securely share entry records of approximately 16,000 to 19,000 travellers (non-U.S. and non-Canadian citizens) daily, with no impact on the traveller experience. No information is shared regarding Canadian citizens, U.S. citizens, Registered Indians or protected persons. In the future, both countries will exchange biographic entry data about all travellers, including Canadian and U.S. citizens, at land ports of entry. Biographic information includes first name, middle name, last name, date of birth, nationality, sex, document type, document number and name of the country that issued the travel document. In addition to the biographic information that Canada and the U.S. currently collect on travellers at ports of entry, the date and time of entry, as well as the port through which the traveller entered, will be exchanged as part of the Entry/Exit initiative. Government of Canada 6 | www.snowbirds.org
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzMzNzMx