This is all a true story. My mother recently went on a vacation to the Grand Canyon. When she returned, there were two expensive iPhones that had been delivered to her mailbox. This was a big red flag. She called the mobile phone company and had found out that her account had been accessed without her permission. She also found that an American Express Business account had been established in her husband’s name without his permission. A few other credit agreements had been made fraudulently. Someone had found her husband’s social security number, mother’s maiden name – everything. It’s impossible for her to find out who did this. She filed a police report and they are now trying to figure out how to clean up the mess.
My husband and I have long been fans of Clark Howard’s podcast. It is a show about money and being cheap. He has been talking about credit freezes for a while. My husband got spooked by my mom’s incident and so did I. We went to Clark Howard’s website and found out how to freeze our credit with all three bureaus. This means that nobody can order a credit report or enter into any credit agreements in your name – including you. You establish a PIN and can have the credit freeze lifted temporarily for a fee supposing you want to take out a loan or get a new job. Sure, this is all a hassle to do but we decided that the trade-offs and costs were worth it. Transunion’s credit freezes are free until July 14, 2009 and we paid $10 each for Experian and Equifax. We spent $40 to ensure that nobody can steal our identities and use our credit.
Some states require the credit bureaus to allow security freezes for free. If you are already a victim of identity theft, security freezes are generally free from the bureaus. You need to know that credit freezes make using credit inconvenient if you intend to establish new loans or credit cards. We have one card and will likely buy our next car for cash so we have no need to establish any new credit agreements. That’s why it works for us. Just imagine every place you’ve ever given your social security number to – insurance agents, banks, credit card companies, medical offices. All it takes is for one disgruntled employee at one of these places to decide to have a party on your credit and you have a big mess on your hands!
Here are some links to become educated: