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Sue Jackson, regional director for Manpower in Santa Rosa until she retired in September, was alarmed when Wells Fargo & Co. notified her last month of suspicious activity in her bank account. Worried that someone may have access to her financial information, she tried to contact the three national credit bureaus to check her credit history, which anyone who is a victim of identity theft is supposed to be able to get for free. It wasn't easy. ``The menu on the phone was very convoluted,'' Jackson said, adding that she could never figure out how to get to a live person. ``I've been in business a long time, and I know how to get around things. This just was not a real simple process.'' Ultimately, she paid $15 for one report and is still waiting for another. Meanwhile, she's been reassured by Wells Fargo that her account was not accessed by outsiders. The next time Jackson checks her credit history, she said she'll take advantage of a popular new program she just learned about -- one set up by the Federal Trade Commission to make the process much easier. ``We've filled millions of consumer requests for credit reports'' since the program began Dec. 1, said Clifton O'Neal, a spokesman for credit bureau TransUnion in Chicago. Credit reports tell such things as where you live, what bills you owe, whether you pay them on time and whether you've filed bankruptcy. The three major credit bureaus -- Equifax, Trans-Union and Experian -- sell this information to lenders, insurance companies, employers and others who use it to evaluate your creditworthiness when you apply to borrow money, buy insurance, rent an apartment or get a job. It used to be that people checked their credit reports just to be sure the information was correct. Now many, like Jackson, are motivated by fear of identity theft. They want to see if any unauthorized charges or someone else's troubled past is showing up on their report. Combating identity theft Identity theft occurs when someone uses your name, Social Security number, credit card number or other personal information to go shopping, withdraw money from your bank account, take out a mortgage using your good credit or a multitude of other frauds. More than 10 million U.S. adults were victims of identity theft in 2003, according to a recent Federal Trade Commission report. Recently, hundreds of thousands of people had their personal information stolen from ChoicePoint Inc. and LexisNexis, two of the nation's leading brokers of personal data. While revamping the federal fair credit laws in late 2003, Congress included a provision that entitles all Americans to one free credit report a year from each of the three major credit bureaus. To handle all of the requests, the Federal Trade Commission set up the Annual Credit Report Request Service in Atlanta. Consumers can contact the service by telephone, Internet or mail. Eligibility is being phased in, starting in the West. Beginning Dec. 1, free reports have been available to people in 13 Western states, including California. Midwestern states started March 1, Southern states begin June 1 and Eastern states begin Sept. 1. If you use the online service, your credit report will pop up within minutes on your screen. If you order a report by telephone, it's mailed within 15 days. Getting credit reports To get the report, you give your name, address, Social Security number and date of birth. Sometimes you'll be asked questions only you should be able to answer, like who your mortgage lender is. If you apply online, the credit bureaus will hit you with lots of optional offers that cost money -- for example, credit monitoring services, debt analysis and various ways you can get and track your credit score. When you get your free credit report, you will not get your credit score, a three-digit number that determines whether you qualify for credit and how much interest you'll have to pay to get it. The higher your credit score, the better credit risk lenders think you are. Depending on the credit bureau, you'll have to pay $5 to $15 to get your credit score, which is based mainly on your payment history but also considers such things as the amount of money you owe and whether you've been bankrupt. Different scores likely Don't be surprised if you find out you have different scores at different credit bureaus. That's the bureaus calculate scores differently. And don't be surprised if your score changes from day to day. That happens when something triggers a change. For example, if several businesses ask for information about you, that can reduce your score on the theory that you must be trying to expand your borrowing, credit bureau spokespeople said. The rumor that your own request for your credit history will reduce your credit score is completely untrue, they said. Requests by employers also do not affect your score. Caution: Don't answer any e-mails that claim to be from one of the three credit bureaus or the Annual Credit Report Request Service. Those companies will not e-mail you for personal information -- but some identity thieves might. When you get your report, study it carefully. It will list the details of the loans and other credit that you have. If you see any mistakes, write the credit bureau. It's supposed to investigate within 45 days and give you a written report of its findings. It also has to tell you who supplied the incorrect information. Other valuable tips: * Some counselors recommend you stagger your requests, contacting a different credit bureau every four months, to keep a rolling watch on your record. * Negative information can stay on your report only seven years, except for bankruptcies, which stay 10 years. * Employers and prospective employers can see your credit history only if you agree. * Wrong information must be removed or corrected. To protect your credit history, you can put a security alert or security freeze on your credit report by calling a credit bureau directly. An alert warns any business seeking information about you that someone may be using your identity illegally. A freeze prohibits the credit bureau from releasing any information to anyone without your permission.

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