[upstatedoc]

One of the simplest ways to protect your credit and years ago I put a freeze on all 3 agencies (Transunion, Equifax and expirian) but what a pain in the ass to un-freeze them all when you need to. Recently, I put a freeze on just one (I'm not telling which one ) because I've heard this can be just as effective. HOWEVER, according to my HR rep, they recommend freezing all 3. Again, what a pain in the ass especially for one of them which requires a written letter, etc. Thoughts?

[F30lolz]

Whats your SS# so I can freeze them again for you.

[NemesisX]

What are the pros and cons to freezing your credit?

[upstatedoc]

Okaaayyy, not a lot of help so far..

[kprocivic]

it seems more of a headache if you never have had issues with identity theft.

[F30lolz]

OP, have you had ID theft in the past, thus the reasoning for the freezing? Or just for peace of mind?

[upstatedoc]

Originally Posted by F30lolz

Whats your SS# so I can freeze them again for you.

Originally Posted by F30lolz

OP, have you had ID theft in the past, thus the reasoning for the freezing? Or just for peace of mind?

I've had this but no ID theft:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...it+card+hacked

[shadow191]

Freezing just one may not be that effective since different banks pull from different agencies. So Chase may pull Experian (just making this up) while Citi may pull Transunion.

For me, a freeze isn't worth it over hacking concerns. Most decent credit card issuers offer free credit scores so I just keep an eye on those. And the fraud prevention on most cards is pretty robust. I travel a lot for work and personally and probably average one credit card issue per year - usually skimming since I often was in small towns at little podunk restaurants and such. Pretty much get a call from CC issuer asking if I authorized X charge, of course I didn't so they close account and overnight me new card, no big deal. I've never once had to come out of pocket. I've also been notified when Citi got hacked, twice in 3 months they had to issue me new cards.

Freezing your credit won't help with credit card issues, only if you're actually worried about true identity theft which isn't that common. I would say that credit monitoring is an easier way. Right now, we have 2 separate credit monitoring programs going on since we were impacted by the Target hack and they offered the service and my work place used Anthem for health insurance and they were hacked. No issues at all and nothing weird popped up.

[shadow191]

Only pro is that if your credit is frozen, no one can open any new lines of credit in your name, not even you. So if your identity has been stolen, freezing your credit prevents the damage from getting worse.

Cons are that even you can't open new lines of credit without unfreezing so it's a huge inconvenience.

Originally Posted by NemesisX

What are the pros and cons to freezing your credit?

[kprocivic]

Originally Posted by upstatedoc

I've had this but no ID theft:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...it+card+hacked

We live in a digital age. there are a variety of ways your card could be compromised. In my branch we reissue debit cards 20-30 times a day. Most common ways are through shady gas stations, or fraudulent online merchants. If you have never had identity theft I wouldn't do it. Using your credit card vs Debit card is a pretty easy thing to switch up to help you sleep at night in regards to cards. CC not linked to bank acct.

there are a ton of agencies as well as cc that do free credit monitoring, which notifies you anytime anything is opened in your name.

[AIRPOWER]

OP, let me get this straight....you are asking a bunch of dudes that have an affinity for ///M on our opinion about freezing a credit bureau's collection of information and you're not happy with the feedback.......c'mon.

[shadow191]

I don't think he posted in M forum directly, it's Off Topic and everyone can view.

[P1]

My wife and I were doing some shopping in Dallas over the weekend. She started talking to the lady at the cash register, who said that earlier in the day someone had come in and tried five different credit cards to pay for all the clothes she wanted to buy. All the cards were actually in HER name with HER credit card numbers stamped on them, so when they asked for ID, it all matched.

However, once them machine read the card after swiping it, a different credit card number actually showed up. So, asking for ID is not enough anymore. The person at the cash register has to actually compare the number on the card with the number that pops up after it's swiped.

She had roughly five or six big Louis Vuitton bags with her, so the stolen credit cards must have worked there.

[bosstones]

I just got notified of a charge on my card. I thought the text msg might be fake, but I just confirmed it by calling the bank. I just got the card earlier this year so....yeah. I only got it since my other card just went thru the same thing last Nov (2 purchases from FFLs and one from a sporting goods store.......great....). Hate how ignorant we are on security.

[rabman5]

I am a victim of ID theft that began in 2001 and it's still not cleared up. Someone got my SS# and started opening up accounts all over the place. Long story short, by the time I was aware, they had defaulted on at least 3 credit accounts, 6 cell phones and 4 or 5 gas station cards. I put a freeze on my account at first but I now use a credit monitoring service. I get notified immediately and can take action. When I had the credit freeze at the agencies, some fraud still happened.

At one point my credit was so bad I couldn't refinance my mortgage. Scores were less than 600. 800 now. Last attempt at fraud was January 2014 and I killed that transaction quickly, only because I was alerted. Yes it costs me $15 a month but now that they have my SS#, I have no choice.

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by rabman5

I am a victim of ID theft that began in 2001 and it's still not cleared up. Someone got my SS# and started opening up accounts all over the place. Long story short, by the time I was aware, they had defaulted on at least 3 credit accounts, 6 cell phones and 4 or 5 gas station cards. I put a freeze on my account at first but I now use a credit monitoring service. I get notified immediately and can take action. When I had the credit freeze at the agencies, some fraud still happened.

At one point my credit was so bad I couldn't refinance my mortgage. Scores were less than 600. 800 now. Last attempt at fraud was January 2014 and I killed that transaction quickly, only because I was alerted. Yes it costs me $15 a month but now that they have my SS#, I have no choice.

It's mind boggling that it can be so difficult and time consuming to recover from identity theft. I monitor my credit monthly as well for my own peace of mind.

[mccannable]

I have my frozen on all three for the wife and I. It's easy to unfreeze if you keep your pins handy and have a smart phone. I see credit fraud regularly at my work and it's not worth the risk for me, even though I'm not completely stupid online.