01-10-2019, 06:35 PM
To continue. One thing you can do if you think your personal information has be compromised (and it probably has been) and maybe you should do any way given all the data breaches is to put a freeze on your credit. In the past some credit agencies charged a fee for placing a freeze and fee for removing them. With all the data breeches law was recently placed that requires the credit agencies to allow you to do so for free.
Before the most recent law, putting a freeze on your credit was often a burden because it sometimes cost money to do so and cost money to remove the freeze. The new law allows you to do so for free. So unless you are expecting to apply for credit soon, as in the next few days, I would suggest placing a freeze on it. Even if you plan to apply for credit in the near future you can request the freeze to be lifted and according to the new law it must be done so within one hour after a verified request.
To enable a freeze you will have to contact the three major credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Note when you add a freeze you will have to provide or be given a pin code. Don't lose it, save the code in a number of ways, on thumb drive as well as on paper etc. It won't totally lock you out but will be harder to to remove the freeze if you lose the code.
More info
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/09/free-credit-freezes-are-here
Note putting a freeze on your credit doesn't harm your credit score. All it does is lock you out from new credit requests until the freeze is removed by you. Thus saving you should some scammer have your personal information and apply for credit under your name.
P.S. Some of those credit agency websites will try to offer credit monitoring and other shit with pop-up windows, check boxes, this or that, etc. Don't mess with that and click no, "X", close the pop-up or whatever. Just add the freeze or remove it for free as required by law. They may even try to sell you a credit report. Don't buy that either. You are entitled to one free credit report from all three agencies once a year. From the Federal Trade Commission:
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0155-free-credit-reports
Personally I get my free report from each agency offset by several months. So I start with my free report from TransUnion then 4 months later or so request my free one from Experian, and four months later Equifax.
Before the most recent law, putting a freeze on your credit was often a burden because it sometimes cost money to do so and cost money to remove the freeze. The new law allows you to do so for free. So unless you are expecting to apply for credit soon, as in the next few days, I would suggest placing a freeze on it. Even if you plan to apply for credit in the near future you can request the freeze to be lifted and according to the new law it must be done so within one hour after a verified request.
To enable a freeze you will have to contact the three major credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Note when you add a freeze you will have to provide or be given a pin code. Don't lose it, save the code in a number of ways, on thumb drive as well as on paper etc. It won't totally lock you out but will be harder to to remove the freeze if you lose the code.
More info
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/09/free-credit-freezes-are-here
Note putting a freeze on your credit doesn't harm your credit score. All it does is lock you out from new credit requests until the freeze is removed by you. Thus saving you should some scammer have your personal information and apply for credit under your name.
P.S. Some of those credit agency websites will try to offer credit monitoring and other shit with pop-up windows, check boxes, this or that, etc. Don't mess with that and click no, "X", close the pop-up or whatever. Just add the freeze or remove it for free as required by law. They may even try to sell you a credit report. Don't buy that either. You are entitled to one free credit report from all three agencies once a year. From the Federal Trade Commission:
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0155-free-credit-reports
Personally I get my free report from each agency offset by several months. So I start with my free report from TransUnion then 4 months later or so request my free one from Experian, and four months later Equifax.
![[Image: 4CV0TeR.png]](https://i.imgur.com/4CV0TeR.png)
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