This week federal authorities charged eleven people throughout the globe with the theft of more than 40 MILLION credit and debit accounts from major retailers, the largest case of identity theft in U. S. history! This culminated a three year investigation that spanned the U. S., China, and Ukraine.

The first step in protecting yourself from identity theft is checking your free annual credit report. I have attempted to obtain my report in previous years but have always had trouble with one or two of the three credit reporting agencies. This year I resolved to check all three on line through the official web site, www.annualcreditreport.com. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to print all three in 36 minutes.

Here's my play by play narrative:

• 4:05
  I went to www.annualcreditreport.com and selected Illinois. Filled out my name, address, SSN, and birth date. Then I was directed to the three credit bureau sites, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian where you could check one or all three.
• 4:09
  I selected Equifax where they gave me the option to have the first five digits of my SSN masked on the printed report. For security, they asked about mortgage and monthly payment. Here they gave me the option to pay $7.95 for my FICO score plus other credit monitoring options, which I declined.
• 4:15
  Viewed and printed the Experian report and returned to annual credit report web site.
• 4:16
  Selected TransUnion site and logged in as I had an account from last year. They had a secret question involving family or schools you attended. Again, they offered to see my credit score for $7.95 which I declined.
• 4:29
  Viewed and printed TransUnion report and returned to the annual credit report web site.
• 4:30
  Selected Experian site where they asked me for the last four digits of my SSN, then the advertisement for credit monitoring and credit score, which I declined. A page popped with several paragraphs of terms and conditions to read and submit. Also, they asked for identity verification on mortgage, auto and my county of residence.
• 4:41
  Viewed and printed my Experian credit report and exited site.

So, no excuses! Check your annual free credit report TODAY as step one in your identity theft protection. Review each report for accuracy. If you do not have access to a computer, just phone the office at 217-333-7672 and ask for the Annual Credit Report Request Form and fact sheet. In addition, you may phone 877-322-8228 to request your free annual credit report. Good luck and let me know if you encounter any difficulty!