Has anyone tried freezing their credit due to the Equifax Debacle? I'm breaking out in a cold sweat

[diva77]

thinking about what further damage will occur if I take action...

[janx]

1. Freezing credit?

What does that mean? I have not heard of that term.

[diva77]

2. as per FTC...here ya go:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs

What is a credit freeze?

Also known as a security freeze, this tool lets you restrict access to your credit report, which in turn makes it more difficult for identity thieves to open new accounts in your name. That’s because most creditors need to see your credit report before they approve a new account. If they can’t see your file, they may not extend the credit.

How do I place a freeze on my credit reports?

Contact each of the nationwide credit reporting companies:

Equifax — 1-800-349-9960
Experian — 1‑888‑397‑3742
TransUnion — 1-888-909-8872

You'll need to supply your name, address, date of birth, Social Security number and other personal information. Fees vary based on where you live, but commonly range from $5 to $10.

After receiving your freeze request, each credit reporting company will send you a confirmation letter containing a unique PIN (personal identification number) or password. Keep the PIN or password in a safe place. You will need it if you choose to lift the freeze.

[WhiteTara]

11. Thanks. I found out I am one of those 143 million

and I have been wondering what to do. I'll do that Monday.

I have to say it really makes me angry that it costs money with each of the companies. This should be a free service since this their problem that caused this.

[moonscape]

22. I did it online today w/ 4 credit reporting agencies and it was free.

Don't know if the fee is state determined/regulated. I'm in CA and expected to pay, but no charge and it was super easy/quick.

[WhiteTara]

23. Thanks!

Where did you go?

[moonscape]

35. Directly to the sites of

Experian
TransUnion
Equifax
Innovis (never heard of them but what the heck!)

and then to ChexSystems

Googled them + security freeze. One assigned a PIN for unfreezing in the future, another had me set a PIN, another asked if I wanted to set it or have them do it, and Innovis said the security freeze had been added to my credit report and I would be getting a confirmation by mail. Presumably that will include a PIN.

Important not to lose the PINs so I put them in a couple of places!

[janx]

12. Thanks. n/t

[Hieronymus]

27. Thanks for the numbers.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. You tell your credit card company not to pay any charges after a certain date.

and to issue you a new card and number.
I had to do it when my purse was stolen.
By credit card company I mean Visa, Citibank, etc.

You can also tell the 3 credit rating companies, like Equifax or who ever, not to allow any 3rd party to ask for credit score info. unless you approve. Lots of sales companies somehow manage to check your credit score without you knowing it.

[yellerpup]

3. I froze mine after the OPM hack.

It's been very effective. One of the benefits is not being propositioned be every credit card company weekly. If you looking for credit to buy a house, car, or trying to take out any kind of loan, you have the option of opening your account for a time period you can limit (1 day, 2 weeks, etc.) and then slam it shut again. No one can open a credit card account or anything else in your name.

[diva77]

4. thanks - I was having reservations cuz Equifax was requiring that I submit sensitive data online in

order to effect the freeze -- rather ironic...

[yellerpup]

10. Equifax was problematic.

I believe that by the way I was shuffled around by them that most of the work is done offshore. They claimed to have lost info on my freeze and I was shuttled around to workers with accents from all over the world, especially Asia, and they demanded the same information and that I submit it in writing. I never did submit it because I had lost confidence in them as a company. I felt they were shady--turns out, they are.

[ecstatic]

5. I did last night. Between Equifax, the Anthem breach, etc

I'm surprised I'm not already compromised. The only bureau that's making it difficult to freeze is experian... interesting since they are who I use for credit monitoring.

[diva77]

8. did you submit your data online at experian or were you able to get thru via phone?

[ecstatic]

14. First tried to do it online. For verification, they asked about people & accounts that had nothing

to do with me whatsoever. Then it said that they could not verify my identity online (what a joke! ). So then it asked me to mail to them my social security number, driver's license, a utility bill, basically my entire identity. Funny that they didn't need all that to start credit monitoring, yet when I'm trying to freeze my credit, they can't verify my identity?! WTF?

Called the number, it was automated. So I did their online upload, which was still way too invasive but I was determined to start the freeze process. If you know of a number where a human answers, please share it.

[diva77]

15. geez! whatta nightmare; I'm gonna write my congressman about this

and at $10 per credit freeze for 3 agencies for 143 million people that adds up to:

30 x 143,000,000 = $4.3 Billion not bad for a "data breach" !!

[ecstatic]

19. Wow! They're charging $3 for Georgia. Unbelievable that Equifax

is charging after their f*ck up! Unreal. You're right, Congress does need to act. They sat on this info for 2 months, and according to this guy:

Link to tweet

[octoberlib]

21. It's free in a lot of states . It just depends on the state.

[wishstar]

7. I went in to freeze mine but Equifax required me to go back in again on Sep 13

Their website said my info was probably hacked but they are overwhelmed and not able to process freeze requests for most people, but instead are requesting people to re-enter their website at a designated later date, in my case the 13th.


I also went into Experian to try and freeze my credit with them, but their website wouldn't take action either and required I send a request by snail mail instead.

[diva77]

9. ok, thanks -- kind of leaves us all vulnerable (which we already have been for what, 6 wks?? since

the Equifax breach???)

[octoberlib]

20. Try again tomorrow. I had the same problem last night and got through on all sites this morning.

[wishstar]

41. Thanks- I tried again today and was successful on all sites with freezes, but still need Sep 13

re-entering on Equifax in order to get the 1 free year of credit monitoring (their premier service) they are offering customers - but my credit reports all looked fine and freezes are in place

[Liberal In Texas]

34. You have to send them snail mail.

Can't do it online.

Good luck. My wife spent the morning researching this and drafting letters to freeze our credit to 4 different agencies. I mailed them today. We're not taking chances.

[moonscape]

38. I did all bureaus online today at each bureau site in

total. Each indicated the freeze was put in place. Very quick and easy.

[Pinkflamingo]

13. I had my AT&T acct hacked, and they hijacked one of my phone lines.

They took an upgrade, put $100 down on a iPhone 7+ at Best Buy. When the new SIM card was installed, our phone then had "no service"

What a mess.

[ecstatic]

16. Also, monitor your accounts! It's not just about credit

Certain info can allow people to gain access to your checking/savings accounts. I have 2 step verification for all the accounts that allow it, but a couple of my accounts have very old school technology. Monday I'm going to call and ask what they have in place to stop my accounts from being drained (in light of these hacks).

[Major Nikon]

17. Let me offer this

I've been a victim no less than 3 times of "security breaches" that have left my personal info out there for public consumption in one form or another.

Never have I had someone open any kind of account in my name, nor do I know of anyone who has. That's not to say it doesn't happen to some people as I'm sure it does. The fact that it does happen from time to time more commonly today means that in the off chance it does happen to you, it will be easier to correct than in times past when such things rarely happened to anyone.

The reality we live in is that your personal information was probably already out there anyway. The best defense is simply to check your credit report periodically and look for discrepancies.

[leftofcool]

32. And then

When you get to be as old as we are, no mortgage, all the credit cards you will ever need, and no plans for a car loan, you can fuck it all. Fifty years from now when we have been dead and gone for a long time, there will be at least 100 people using our socials for something.

[octoberlib]

18. Read this. Freezing is the best thing you can do.

Last edited Sat Sep 9, 2017, 12:17 AM - Edit history (1)

We froze accounts at all of the credit reporting companies and put a security alert on Chexsystems which will nmake it harder for somebody to use your SSN to open a bank account in your name. You can always temporarily lift the freeze if you're taking out a new loan or something.

If your response to this breachapalooza is to do what each of the breached organizations suggest — to take them up on one or two years’ worth of free credit monitoring services — you might sleep better at night but you will probably not be any more protected against crooks stealing your identity. As I discussed at length in this primer, credit monitoring services aren’t really built to prevent ID theft. The most you can hope for from a credit monitoring service is that they give you a heads up when ID theft does happen, and then help you through the often labyrinthine process of getting the credit bureaus and/or creditors to remove the fraudulent activity and to fix your credit score.

In short, if you have already been victimized by identity theft (fraud involving existing credit or debit cards is not identity theft), it might be worth paying for these credit monitoring and repair services (although more than likely, you are already eligible for free coverage thanks to a recent breach at any one of dozens of companies that have lost your information over the past year). Otherwise, I’d strongly advise you to consider freezing your credit file at the major credit bureaus.

There is shockingly little public knowledge or education about the benefits of a security freeze, also known as a “credit freeze.” I routinely do public speaking engagements in front of bankers and other experts in the financial industry, and I’m amazed at how often I hear from people in this community who are puzzled to learn that there is even such a thing as a security freeze (to be fair, most of these people are in the business of opening new lines of credit, not blocking such activity).

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/06/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-embrace-the-security-freeze/


Article contains all the links to the different companies.

[MontanaMama]

24. I entered my info

on the website today and Equifax stated that my information had been breached. I then entered hub's info...same thing. THEN I entered a false last name and false SSN # and guess what? Seems Equifax states that info was also compromised. I did it several more times and got the same result. I wonder if all of this is a ruse.

[renate]

28. That is *super* interesting/scary

Thank you for doing that experiment and sharing the results with us. It hadn't occurred to me at all.

[lindysalsagal]

25. I froze all 3 in writing via snail mail years ago. Really really glad I did. I can temporarily thaw

Over the phone with a code. I refuse to type my SS into any keyboard, and I don't have online access to my checkingsavings. Go to www.clarkhoward.com for step by step instructions, but verify the updated snail addresses and do it certified registered mail. Peace of mind.

I also went to a regional credit union. Get out of the national mega banks. People used to say I'm paranoid. I say, yep. I am. And I'm better off for it. If you're not paranoid, you're not paying attention.

[marybourg]

26. No, I haven't and I don't think I want to under the current rules,

which require me to pay each of the 3 credit reporting agencies, and to pay them again every time I decide to open up a new card or Money Market account. One of the companies I'd be paying is the very company which gave up my data in the first place.

Nor am I signing up for their "protection plan" by giving them (or whomever is operating that site) my personal data again, and also agreeing to give up the right to be part of an eventual class action. Extortion scheme anyone?

Freezing your credit may prevent others from opening credit cards in your name, but that's not the biggest threat from this breach, in my opinion. I think the biggest threat is that someone now knows all the information your financial institutions know about you and use to identify you when you contact them by phone or on line. Even that list of previous addresses we have to identify in critical transactions. Someone who buys this information can become "you" to your financial institutions which are holding your money. This is the scary thing to me.

[lunasun]

30. I agree I am much more worried about this happening .

[leftofcool]

31. That is the reason for having a small town bank.

They know me and I know them. They know to never take a call from me on the phone or any other customer for that matter. You don't go in, you don't talk to anyone.

[marybourg]

36. Yes, my bank knows me also, but I also have a brokerage

and a mutual fund company, an annuity, a money market account in a different bank, and don't forget a "small town" bank may be part of a larger corporate structure where a fraudster can call a corporate number or use a corporate website impersonating you and by-passing your friendly banker who knows you, altogether.

They can think of sneaky dodges that we can't; they're crooks.

[leftofcool]

37. Our bank is not part of a large corporation.

It is locally owned. We use Ameriprise for all of our money markets and annuities and have for 35 years. We also have a code to use when we talk to our broker on the phone. That information is not available anywhere.

[marybourg]

39. Well, it sounds like you've got it all worked out then,

and have nothing to worry about.

[leftofcool]

40. We figured the worst that could happen is someone takes out a home loan

By the time the thief lives in it for a while then decides not to pay for it, we will be dead and gone.

[leftofcool]

29. Hell no! I'm going give the people who were hacked my vital info?

And I'm going to pay them for the privilege? Even if by some chance someone stole my identity, if they try to get a home loan or a car loan, I think living on social security will stop that. They can't get to my 401K and they can't get to my bank account. My credit card company will notify me if a charge looks suspicious.

[Liberal In Texas]

33. We are. Sent the letters today.

I wasn't compromised but my wife was.

We are freezing our credit which is no small task. Sent them certified mail etc.

You have to send them to all the 4 different services. One each, so a total of 8 letters.

[hatrack]

42. I did all three by phone, since I don't trust any of their websites, esp. Equifax . . .

It's an auto-response system, and yes, I did have to freaking pay.

Kossack DocDawg has two really good threads running on the topic and they're worth reading:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/9/8/1697105/-Equifax-just-broke-the-US-consumer-finance-industry-AND-the-internet-Here-s-what-YOU-need-to-do-now

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/9/9/1697262/-Equifax-security-is-STILL-criminally-negligent-How-I-discovered-that-and-why-you-should-care