Freezing one's credit...
 

I've had my credit "frozen" at the three agencies for probably 15 years now, and have advocated that it is by far the safest method to protect yourself, and recommended such on this board many times before. I'm thinkin' I should probably do the same for my elderly parents...never crossed my mind before....YMMV.

DO IT!!!

Your "freeze" release data was apparently also leaked.

Hadn't heard that reported....you mean the PIN for Equifax :(? That's the only one of the three that I've ever had to temporarily lift btw and the service that most seem to use.

edited: I can't believe that the PINs stored by Equisux weren't encrypted btw....I question the accuracy of this....jmho. Sounds like bs...if they obtained encrypted PINs, then it's a non-issue.

Fraud Alert plus Freeze. NOT one of the "monitoring " products that the credit bureaus will try to foist onto you (with a few associated with it of course). Definitely good to do for yourself and elderly parents and dependents (doing that for mine now). Kids are slightly different - the rules for freeze requests involving minors are state by state: in most the child's record is checked and if one exists, it's frozen until they turn 18. If no record exists either (1) one is created and frozen until they turn 18 (some states) or (2) the request is ignored and goes into the trash bin (other states). I'd tend to think it'd be FAR better to have a record created and frozen until they attain age of majority (the creation of one in their name is sadly inevitable anyway); their continuing to have "no record" after the request means someone can still potentially grab their name and SSN and raise hell that you'd never know about and that they'd be stuck with upon turning age 18. I don't think any parent wants that for their kid(s). Why the heck there isn't a national requirement to create and automatically freeze ALL records at birth or upon issuance of an SSN is beyond me. At the very least "create record and freeze until turning age 18" should absolutely be the default for a freeze request involving a minor. Anything else is frankly derelict, but these companies seem to not give a fart in the wind about doing the right thing.

How does one freeze their credit? We have been discussing this but I have found no real procedure.

Thanks!
Mike

Each credit bureau has a slightly different process, which may or may not work. One thing common between them is they will throw a lot of FUD your way trying to convince you not to freeze it, suggesting you place a "lock" or "hold" or "macarena" instead. If everyone froze their credit files, a major source of their income would dry up, which is even more reason to do it.

I will cynically predict that as a result of so many people freezing, the credit bureaus will change the rules to re-define what actually constitutes a "freeze".

But it will be for your benefit!

Don't have a reliable source but heard that recently in conversation.

With the recent Equifax hacking it is pretty easy to request and get your credit frozen with them on line, Trans Union is pretty much in the same page, now Experian is a different animal those son of the bit%#*es will request copy of your id, bills proof, identity theft case number with the pertinent authorities and it all needs to be done in writing explaining why you think you need that done, then maybe you get results...

https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/21/16345422/experian-credit-freeze-equifax-breach-vulnerable

I find this odd. I was able to freeze at all three agencies, on line, and within a few minutes. Experian was the first one I tried. This was back around Sept. 9th, so maybe things have gotten hectic and they've tried to slow things down. Regardless, I never had to give any of the documentation you mention. Your post sounds like you had an identity theft incident, or were claiming one, and that's why the docs were requested. If you claimed ID theft to avoid the freeze fee, this may be why the hoops were set up.

Good I am very happy that things worked out for you that easily. Now I was not freezing my credit but helping an elderly friend who was overly concerned with the recent Equifax situation and needed assistance and sometimes things like this could be a little overwhelming for some people, Experian did request some information from her and we are not even into the fees yet, actually no clue what the fees are or could be so they are not a consideration at this time nor they will be. Reviewing their communication and their criteria for granting a freeze I saw that they mentioned for the person to provide information regarding the case or such with the proper authorities in order to avoid fees in the event of identity theft. Now as requested she did send copies or her id and insurance bill as well with the letter requesting the freeze, no other information needed to be sent at this time. My post was solely based on the recent dealing with the 3 agencies a couple of days ago, it was super fast and easy to do TransUnion and Equifax but not so with Experian. So as you may imagine what works for you not necessarily is going to work for others, mind you this is in Florida which some call the scam capital of the world.

I guess my post was really regarding why Experian was so different an experience if you tried the same process with all three. The fact that they asked for items to be sent is what caught my attention. If you initiated all three requests on line, I don't see why Experian wanted mailed documents. Did you respond to any on-line questions in such a way that the process shifted to mailed communication? I'm wondering if Experian took the extra precaution because your friend, being elderly, may have not had her credit history accessed for a considerable time and they were suspicious.

Again, I only posted that I found your situation a bit odd because there was never any documentation required for any on-line freezes in my recent experience.

I failed one of the online challenge questions, so they kicked to down to mail-in-only. What's funny/sad is I answered the question factually but the current facts didn't match what it had in their database.

This makes perfect sense to me as to why rayporsche ran into the difficulty^^.

I did mine back when it was all snail mail, and $10 bucks each...best $30 worth of insurance I've ever purchased :). Thanks for that earlier link Thom....had no idea a PIN could be reset online so easily...that sux :(. The few times I've temporarily lifted the freeze, I had to go dig up the paperwork for Equisux...

How to freeze you credit:

Credit Freeze Guide: The best way to protect yourself against identity theft | Clark Howard

Two weekends ago I helped a vision impaired friend get her credit frozen. Took less than an hour. Only issue was Equifax was busy and rejected our first two attempts.

These 3 CRAs own too much of our info. Freeze it all and put fraud detection in place. Just did this a short while ago for my wife and I. They use my info for profit and F it up by jot securing it, putting my financial past, present, and future at risk.

True, what you are saying makes sense. We are living difficult times my friend...

Thanks, that made is so easy! Did all three in 5 minutes.