Did you know you can go online right now and view credit report information for your name? All you need is your social security number and answers to a few personal questions from your past, and you can see everything lenders and creditors see when they view your credit, plus more! Today, your handshake means nothing and your credit means everything. That is why you need to protect you name.

Just checking your name is even not good enough today. This is because there may be alias names listed for you on your credit report that you have never legally gone by. This is because advertisers and creditors may get your name wrong and when they file that name under your social security number it becomes connected to you. That is just one reason to check your history online. You can dispute wrong names.

If you think everything is handled by computers that never make mistakes these days, you may be surprised to realize that people still sit on the other end of those computers. Mistakes are made every single day and the only way to catch them and prevent them from costing you money is to check your report personally.

So, how do you do this? First of all, realize that you are entitled to one free copy of your credit report from all three reporting bureaus every year. You can look at all three versions of your report at once through websites that allow you to prove your identity and access them online, or you can look at one every few months so you have your eye on the records throughout the year.

Both of these options are flawed. If you spread your viewing of the three reports across the year, you may miss something that only shows up one of the reports. Most people do have differences between reports because some businesses may not report to all three collecting agencies. You will miss something that could be important if you spread them out.

Yet, if you decide to look at them all at once you cannot do it again for a year unless you pay for the access. This leaves your name vulnerable for a solid year.

So, what is the solution? The safest and smartest way to handle this is to find a reputable service that will allow you to view credit report information year round for a small fee. Some will even watch over your name and notify you whenever anyone tries to use your credit or inquires into your credit.

For more information and tips on how to view credit report history, consumer credit report and check credit score visit Free Credit Report Online