Quote:
Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile
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Don't know if you were responding to my post immediately above yours, but, if so, a fraud alert is another tool, but not as effective as a security freeze. It may be a good idea to have both however, a fraud alert is very porous. A fraud alert only notifies the credit agencies to
verify the ID of anyone attempting to manipulate your credit. That verification process may or may not work if the thief has changed contact information using your stolen information. Also, it relies on the effectiveness of the credit agency, something that is completely questionable now. Finally, an alert is only good for 90 days and and
extended alert can only be applied if you have
already been a victim of ID theft and have a police report or some other record of the incident. I suppose you can renew a fraud alert every 90 days, but that becomes burdensome, especially when a freeze is continuous until you actively release it.
Bottom line, it's probably good to have both, in addition to you own personal monitoring of your credit reports. Our personal ID security has been put at risk by forces we had no control over nor even with our consent. We have to take our own steps to protect our ID, as far as the system allows.