Stop Identity Theft Cold: Freeze Your Credit

Thanks for the great info.  I've never head of this before but I plan to pass it on to clients and agents in my office.

 

that is always a great tool to use. I have mine on a watch so I get alerts anytime credit has been pulled or if a new account has been established or if their has been any major changes to an account. great post!

Glad you promoted this issue. I am aware of it in Illinois.

Karen,

Thanks for the great information.  North Carolina is on the list - I'll have to keep this in mind. 

Karen - Thanks for the info - it is worth checking into for many people.

The thought of identity theft is concerning. This is good info.

Great tip! - not offered in my state yet, but will be great when it gets here.  I have had my identity stolen twice.  It would be nice to get a jump on the thieves.

Great post.  Thanks

Wow, thank you so much for sharing this.  I will be doing this right away, what an easy way to stop worrying about identity theft.   Kimberly

Excellent point...This is a great idea... Thanks for sharing. 

I didnt know that, Great thing to know

Great information, Karen.  I was not aware of that, I read a comment about how bothersome it is to unfreeze your credit if you want to use it again.  If it would help stop identity theft it will be worth it, I think.

Karen this is awesome!  So how long does it take to "un-freeze"...just in case one gets the impulse to buy a house?  ;-)

Because of the unusual remarks I see from respondents to this post, I am rre-entering my reply info on this subject.  The states do not control the Freeze, individuals accomplish this directly with the credit agencies.  The 'unfreeze', i.e., credit pull, can be accomplished with a phone call.

I just finished working with a lending company and occasionally a credit check would ‘come back' with an Extended Fraud Alert on the account.  This was via the Fair Issac with Equifax.  The Extended Fraud Alert is placed on the account voluntarily by the individual. 

I know the name Extended Fraud Alert does not really sound like something that the consumer would place on the account but none-the-less, that is what the title is.  Anyhow, the EFA alert allowes for three options for the consumer to allow the ‘credit pull' against their name. 

Option 1.  was for them to put an alpha-numeric code (password) on their credit report and we could merely ask them to tell us the code over the phone. 

Option 2.  was for them to have us call them back at a preset phone number that was on the credit report. 

Option 3. was 1 & 2 combined; call them back at the phone in the credit report and have them validate the password. 

I am not sure about this 'state' involvement/approval.  I think some of the states have mandated that the credit agencies (extortionists) can only charge you $10 for the Extended Fraud Alert feature.  However, I think any credit account can get the Security Freeze / Extended Fraud Alert directly from the credit agency.  If you live in a state where the $10 is not mandated, the credit agency probably charges approx. $35-75 per year.  Go directly to the credit agencies and check with them  Equifax, TransUnion, Experian.  They are all http://www. xxx or abc or 123. com/.  ( <<<  silly computers)  There is also a place called Innovis that does this for consumers.  Also, the EFA is for 7 years unless you choose to end it prior to that.   

After seeing what can happen to peoples credit, I have been thinking about doing it also.  If your credit gets screwed up you can be screwed for years.  Just the effort to straighten out your credit from a credit fraud can be enough to drive a sane person crazy.

Choicepoint has recently announced that some customer’s personal information was compromise by imposters who identified themselves as legitimate operators.

Choicepoint was a company that spun out of the data revolution.  In a short seven years, this company had collect records on almost every living adult in the US. It is a large data compiler, which also buys data from as well as collects info that is sold to governments, FBI, major corporations, credit bureaus, insurance companies and others for credit cards, employment and many other purposes.

When word came out about this it was characterized as a major national security issue. It is very had to get a hold Choicepoint and it has been suspected for some time that there is no accountability as to what this company does with information it collects.

Research this for yourself and see if you can find info as it is expected that 10 million records were affected.  The Federal Trade Commission is supposed to be investigation this breach of security.

I never knew about this what a great idea!

If your purse is lost or stolen that might be a great idea until you get things back.  It don't take long to do a lot of damage.

Happy holidays 

I just foud this post today. Thanks for the great information.