Iowa residents whose financial info may have been stolen are being notified. Choicepoint, a nationwide firm that collects financial data and sells it to client companies, recently announced that a thieves posed as a legitimate client and got hold of the data for thousands of people nationwide. ChoicePoint says 809 people in Iowa were affected, though the company won’t discuss it. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller says he’s talked with them. Miller says ChoicePoint’s working with the Ag’s office and is notifying people affected. He says there are two lists — one the people whose information was given out, and a second, much smaller list, of people who’ve actually been the victim of identity theft. If you haven’t heard, or think you may be a credit-theft target, Miller says it can be tough to check out your suspicions…but one of the best tools can be a credit report.When people engage in identity theft, they run up bills fast and don’t pay them — so that will show up quickly as an unpaid bill on your credit report and will be a signal that someone’s using your identity. The Attorney General’s office this week announced the big three credit-reporting companies now will give out a free copy of your credit report once a year. Get details by checking the website www.annualcreditreport.com
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