Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

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OldTimer
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Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by OldTimer »

With all the recent press about internet hacks on big companies I have been considering placing a credit freeze on my accounts at the big three credit bureaus.

Any advise on this tactic?

Some information about me:

1. My wife and I are recently retired.
2. We do not need any new credit, mortgages, car loans, store credit, etc.

Seems to me the minimal fee, about $10 for each of the 3 credit bureau is worth the expense.

Any first hand experience on this? Are there any downsides or unanticipated consequences to this approach?

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.
hirlaw
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by hirlaw »

My wife and I both put on a Credit Freeze at all 3 agencies about 5 years ago.

We have seen no downside. There may be a small inconvenience if you are planning on applying for loans or credit cards, but it is easy to temporarily lift the freeze.
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sddiehard
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by sddiehard »

hirlaw wrote:My wife and I both put on a Credit Freeze at all 3 agencies about 5 years ago.

We have seen no downside. There may be a small inconvenience if you are planning on applying for loans or credit cards, but it is easy to temporarily lift the freeze.
+1

We did the same 8 years ago and agree.

Paul
ShiftF5
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by ShiftF5 »

sddiehard wrote:
hirlaw wrote:My wife and I both put on a Credit Freeze at all 3 agencies about 5 years ago.

We have seen no downside. There may be a small inconvenience if you are planning on applying for loans or credit cards, but it is easy to temporarily lift the freeze.
+1

We did the same 8 years ago and agree.

Paul
+2

I did the same several years ago and have no regrets.
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gasdoc
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by gasdoc »

I froze my credit years ago as well. I sleep better knowing no one can open a loan or credit card in my name. It is simple to "thaw" them for a day if someone does need to access your credit to do a check. For example, cell phone companies check your credit when you sign a new contract.
camden
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by camden »

I am in a similar position, and did a credit freeze with all three agencies several months ago. Think it is a wise precaution, and worth the minor inconvenience of having to request a temporary "unfreezing" if you should need to do so for some reason in the future. I have been told and read that you may not be able to open new financial accounts ( savings, CDs, etc. ) without the financial institution involved being able to do a credit check; this may be true in certain instances, but I have successfully opened two such accounts in the last four months without having to unfreeze.

You state that you are retired. If you are over 65, be aware that, depending on your state of residence, you may be able to do the credit freezes without being assessed a fee.
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Leif
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by Leif »

It sounds like a freeze is a permanent (until lifted) setting. I thought it was only for a relatively short period.

If I want to add a credit freeze do I do it on-line? Do I need to visit all three credit rating agencies or just one? I guess I would need to do it twice for myself and wife's SSN?

Typically there is a fee? One time or on going?

Is a company like LifeLock a good alternative with credit monitoring? I currently have free credit monitoring through AAA.
GoldenFinch
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by GoldenFinch »

My husband froze his credit after being a victim of identity theft. Someone from Florida was trying to collect workers comp using his identity. The whole charade went no where, but was still unnerving. We still don't know how they got his driver's lisence number. Anyway, we will never borrow money again, so no need for his credit not to be frozen.
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pennstater2005
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by pennstater2005 »

Leif wrote:It sounds like a freeze is a permanent (until lifted) setting. I thought it was only for a relatively short period.

If I want to add a credit freeze do I do it on-line? Do I need to visit all three credit rating agencies or just one? I guess I would need to do it twice for myself and wife's SSN?

Typically there is a fee? One time or on going?

Is a company like LifeLock a good alternative with credit monitoring? I currently have free credit monitoring through AAA.
Some good info here:

http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-h ... uide/nFbL/
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RTR2006
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by RTR2006 »

Froze everything this past week (Anthem). Solid credit and we own our home free and clear so not sure if and how it might become a problem, but feel much safer...

RTR
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Watty
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by Watty »

sddiehard wrote:
hirlaw wrote:My wife and I both put on a Credit Freeze at all 3 agencies about 5 years ago.

We have seen no downside. There may be a small inconvenience if you are planning on applying for loans or credit cards, but it is easy to temporarily lift the freeze.
+1

We did the same 8 years ago and agree.

Paul
Another +1 on that.

The only thing to be careful about is to not lose the PIN numbers they send you when you put the freeze on. I have heard that they require a lot of documentation to replace those which makes sense.
aerofreaky11
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by aerofreaky11 »

Can you access your score with Credit Karma etc... during a freeze (consumer requested) or is it locked down for that purpose as well. Any disadvantages in locking down in terms of improving scores. Is it a bad idea for someone with a thin file?
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samsoes
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by samsoes »

I froze all three of mine eight years ago when the Medical Records department of Mega-Hospital I worked for (IT department) kept losing a daily lost report with names, addresses, SSN, etc., of all the patients who registered the day before in any of their offices/practices. I had to re-generate the report for them. "Oh, someone else must keep picking it up off the printer and throwing it away because it wasn't the printout they were looking for," was the response I got.

:oops:

If a HIPAA-regulated organization was that careless with customer's personal info, it frightened me what other organizations I've done business with were just as careless with personal information. Needless to say, my credit reports were locked as soon as humanly possible, and have remained that way since.

(Their internal procedures were tightened immediately when I said, "What happens if the evening news finds out that we are losing parients' personal information every day?")
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novicemoney
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by novicemoney »

hirlaw wrote:My wife and I both put on a Credit Freeze at all 3 agencies about 5 years ago.

We have seen no downside. There may be a small inconvenience if you are planning on applying for loans or credit cards, but it is easy to temporarily lift the freeze.
I assume you have not had to lift the freeze. Do you know what the procedure is to do so? Is it phone call, online?
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dollar_elbow
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by dollar_elbow »

novicemoney wrote:
hirlaw wrote:My wife and I both put on a Credit Freeze at all 3 agencies about 5 years ago.

We have seen no downside. There may be a small inconvenience if you are planning on applying for loans or credit cards, but it is easy to temporarily lift the freeze.
I assume you have not had to lift the freeze. Do you know what the procedure is to do so? Is it phone call, online?
You can apply for a security freeze online at each of the three bureaus and if they can verify you, each will give you a ten digit pin. From then on you can freeze and unfreeze online using the pin. It's fairly quick and lifting the freeze temporarily is instantaneous, i.e. you can lift the freeze and ten minutes later you can apply for a credit card.
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Leif
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by Leif »

RTR2006 wrote:Froze everything this past week (Anthem). Solid credit and we own our home free and clear so not sure if and how it might become a problem, but feel much safer...

RTR
Did you need to pay or is it covered under ID theft? I read you may need a police report to qualify for free under ID theft. At least that is what I saw for the California rules.
Van
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by Van »

Do it. The peace of mind is worth way more than the minimal effort required and the few dollars.

My wife and I have had our credit frozen for 8 years. We are retired and rarely need to unfreeze, but when we do, it is not a big hassle.

I think it is especially important to freeze your credit after reaching 65, since the number on your Medicare card is your SS # plus a letter. Therefore, every time you use Medicare countless people in the doctor's office, hospital, insurance companies etc. know your SS #. By the way, I think this is rather idiotic!
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GerryL
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by GerryL »

I froze mine at least 5 years ago when the only way to do it was with forms snail mailed to each of the 3 agencies. They snail mail the PIN to unfreeze back.

Cost: If you can demonstrate that you've been a target of identity theft or (I think) you have been turned down for credit (someone validate, please) you don't need to pay. Otherwise the actual cost depends on the state you live in. I believe $10 (for each agency) is the max; $0 in others. Supposedly the cost also applies to unfreeze.

Recommendation: Don't unfreeze your reports in anticipation of applying for a credit card or requesting some other type of credit (e.g., new cell phone account). Just go ahead and make the application. When they try to process your application, they will tell you which report you need to unfreeze -- and it's quick and easy to do online.
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AAA
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by AAA »

Van wrote:I think it is especially important to freeze your credit after reaching 65, since the number on your Medicare card is your SS # plus a letter. Therefore, every time you use Medicare countless people in the doctor's office, hospital, insurance companies etc. know your SS #. By the way, I think this is rather idiotic!
I recently received my card and was very surprised to see this. Would it be so hard to establish a look-up table in Medicare's computer system, one column of which has our social security number and the other has a randomly generated Medicare claim number?

Note: If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, you get a separate card and they may use a number other than your Soc. Sec. number. At least the two companies I called said they did so.
skepticalobserver
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by skepticalobserver »

Leif wrote:Is a company like LifeLock a good alternative with credit monitoring?
A while back I called LifeLock and asked how their service was any better than a credit freeze. They claimed limited access to data bases which could detect the opening of a fraudulent account and, for a few states, detect application for a phony driver license.They wouldn't tell which banks and states they offer this service for. Most of the "protection" talk on their end was vague and they guy kept trying to get me to open an account between my questions (no surprise there).

It's possible to freeze access to CheckSytems, the service many banks use to vet account applications: https://www.consumerdebit.com/consumeri ... /index.htm
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mfswatz9
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by mfswatz9 »

We froze ours several years ago. The only downside is not being able to open a CD online which I tried to do to get a better rate at our local bank. They said because of the Patriot Act they had to check credit. It's well worth it for the peace of mind.
TallBoy29er
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by TallBoy29er »

RTR2006 wrote:Froze everything this past week (Anthem). Solid credit and we own our home free and clear so not sure if and how it might become a problem, but feel much safer...

RTR
Credit freezes are the best way to prevent others from doing anything that requires a credit check from one of the three leading bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax). This includes opening any new revolving credit lines, home mortgages, etc. This is, I personally believe, much better than what a LifeLock or other type of credit reporting service can provide.

That said, credit freezes do not protect you from other types of fraud, especially where the loss of Personally Identifiable Information (PII), such as social security numbers, comes into play. The loss of socials opens you up to other types of theft not so easily prevented, such as false medical claims, and false tax returns. For those who are victims of the Anthem breach, of which I am included, this is what we need to be wary of.

Here is a good article if you wish to read:

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/03/are- ... -worth-it/
bs010101
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by bs010101 »

aerofreaky11 wrote:Can you access your score with Credit Karma etc... during a freeze (consumer requested) or is it locked down for that purpose as well. Any disadvantages in locking down in terms of improving scores. Is it a bad idea for someone with a thin file?
I signed up for Credit Karma before freezing, and it still works. I think you probably cannot sign up for it afterwards.
pyld76
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by pyld76 »

aerofreaky11 wrote:Can you access your score with Credit Karma etc... during a freeze (consumer requested) or is it locked down for that purpose as well. Any disadvantages in locking down in terms of improving scores. Is it a bad idea for someone with a thin file?
Previous creditors or creditors with which you have an "ongoing relationship" can see and report your credit lines regardless of the freeze. It prevents new potential creditors from seeing the file.

I froze my credit probably 8 years ago in PA. My credit union has a relationship with experian that gets you visibility to your experian FICO score monthly. That was not effected by the freeze. My FICO has bobbled between 790 and 820 since, largely depending upon who records balances when during the course of the month.

It's not going to be a plus or a minus in terms of improving scores. It does make it more effort to open new credit. I've had to pay ~30 each time I've opened credit, which meant 1 mortgage, 1 refi, 1 car loan, 1 credit card. I'm probably out $100 in freeze fees over 8 years. On the other hand, despite being a known victim of the Target and Home Depot and Anthem breaches, I've never had credit opened in my name that was fraudulent. And that, in today's world, is pretty priceless. Frankly, it also serves a psychological purpose--it does make you consider very thoroughly if you want the credit you are about to apply for because it takes time and money to facilitate no matter what. I consider that a feature, not a bug.
SimonJester
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by SimonJester »

Just be sure to sign up for your Social Security account before freezing. I didnt and will need to make a visit to my local office to setup an account one of these days.

Ive had mine frozen for years and I see no real down side other then having to pay $10 to unfreeze three times now. Its a small price to pay for some basic protection. Freezing wont protect from IRS return fraud and medical id fraud, and not for DMV related id fraud as well.
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin
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LAlearning
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by LAlearning »

Yes. :!:
I know nothing!
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GerryL
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by GerryL »

mfswatz9 wrote:We froze ours several years ago. The only downside is not being able to open a CD online which I tried to do to get a better rate at our local bank. They said because of the Patriot Act they had to check credit. It's well worth it for the peace of mind.
Really? My credit reports have been frozen for years but I had no trouble opening an account at Ally and getting several CDs in the past year.
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runner9
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by runner9 »

Thanks all. I never really thought of this but reading through here I see no downside, so I think I'll do this for my wife and I next week, after discussing with her of course.

I can't see any new credit or other financial changes we'd make in the future, but would unfreeze if needed.
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AAA
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by AAA »

GerryL wrote:
mfswatz9 wrote:We froze ours several years ago. The only downside is not being able to open a CD online which I tried to do to get a better rate at our local bank. They said because of the Patriot Act they had to check credit. It's well worth it for the peace of mind.
Really? My credit reports have been frozen for years but I had no trouble opening an account at Ally and getting several CDs in the past year.
Interesting, because I had a CD at Ally and wanted to put the proceeds into their savings account when it matured, I think last year. They wouldn't do it without checking credit, even though I already had an account there. Not all banks do this, however.
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Motocicleta
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by Motocicleta »

I just froze mine this week. I asked DW if she wanted to do the same, and she was not sure - wanted to think about it.
bowtie
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by bowtie »

What about freezing it if you already have lifelock?
Any opinions on that?
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gasdoc
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by gasdoc »

bowtie wrote:What about freezing it if you already have lifelock?
Any opinions on that?
Doesn't lifelock just let you know after it happens? Not sure- but I doubt you need lifelock if you freeze your credit accounts.
HIinvestor
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by HIinvestor »

I tried putting a free fraud alert on my account on all 3 credit bureaus. So far, only TransUnion appeared to accept it. I got error messages from the other two! Will try again tomorrow. Used both computer and phone.
bslice
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by bslice »

bs010101 wrote:
aerofreaky11 wrote:Can you access your score with Credit Karma etc... during a freeze (consumer requested) or is it locked down for that purpose as well. Any disadvantages in locking down in terms of improving scores. Is it a bad idea for someone with a thin file?
I signed up for Credit Karma before freezing, and it still works. I think you probably cannot sign up for it afterwards.
+1

Same here. Had a friend who has freeze and was not able to sign up for CK. I already had an account when I set up my freeze and CK is working fine for me.
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Jimbo9911
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by Jimbo9911 »

Mine have been frozen for several years and I am glad I did. Besides the peace of mind, after just a little while it had stopped all of the not wanted credit card solicitations that I was always getting in the mail.
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Leif
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by Leif »

I did the freeze. Opened a new checking account - no problem. Opened an associated debit card - no problem. Tried to open a new credit card - problem. Even though I already had another CC with them. They asked for me to give them my unfreeze code. That did not seem like a good idea to me, so I cancelled the application. Looking at it in more detail, it appears I can open my CC history to one particular vendor. But, despite the bonus on the new card I just don't want the hassle. Its nice to know the freeze is working.
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burt
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by burt »

Yes, most definitely.
Froze my credit report several years ago.
Had to unfreeze when applying for mortgage. 3 x $10 = $30.
Had to unfreeze when applying for electronic Social Security statements. 1 X $10 = $10

I will gladly pay unfreeze fees for some peace of mind.

burt
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gasdoc
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Re: Should I put a Credit Freeze on my accounts?

Post by gasdoc »

Watty wrote:
sddiehard wrote:
hirlaw wrote:My wife and I both put on a Credit Freeze at all 3 agencies about 5 years ago.

We have seen no downside. There may be a small inconvenience if you are planning on applying for loans or credit cards, but it is easy to temporarily lift the freeze.
+1

We did the same 8 years ago and agree.

Paul
Another +1 on that.

The only thing to be careful about is to not lose the PIN numbers they send you when you put the freeze on. I have heard that they require a lot of documentation to replace those which makes sense.
Yes- properly record the pin numbers for use when you need to temporarily "thaw" the "freeze." The only hassle for me has been with cell phone companies occasionally when changing a contract at the store. Strangely enough, this has never been an issue when changing the phone contracts online.


Sincerely,
gasdoc
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