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Equifax was free for me the other day. That may only be because I was one of the potentially affected though. On the other hand, if they were charging anyone for it I could see the crowd with pitchforks and torches lined up at their headquarters for profiting from their own mistake.
Did you actually try to do it? It was free to myself and everyone else I know who did it. It’s the unfreezing that costs money.
Regardless, $30 is nothing compared to having your identity stolen.
Equifax was free to freeze. Experian and TransUnion were $10 each when I implemented the freeze...cheap insurance.
Then you add fees to unfreeze it (which I might have to do as early as next month). And it wasn't free for me. Maybe it's the state (UT) to blame or maybe I went through the wrong portal. Since I already follow along on CreditKarma and CreditSesame, I think I'll go with the earlier idea of a fraud alert. If someone has your SS# and intends to use it, your ID is already stolen in everything but name only. Security Freeze Center at Experian is the link I used and they want me to give them my CC # (aka sensitive info with which they've already proven how hopelessly careless they are) again to enable this? @#$% no.
"In your state, there is a fee for this service."
And screw Utah.
"In your state, there is a fee for this service."
And screw Utah.
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Waiting4M3
Active Member
Same here. Equifax for free, Experian and TransUnion $10 each. It's a one time fee, it's a no-brainer. Even if you don't have much savings at risk now, protecting your credit for years down the line is worth the $20.
The site itself gives no indication of such a fee waiving. No matter, "We were unable to honor your request to place a security freeze on your personal credit report based on the information you entered." The identity questions included questions about a nonexistent auto loan from 2015. Then, in the following verbiage, they still have this intact: "If you are paying for a security freeze placement, enclose your check or money order for $10.00." This company needs to crash and burn.
I was able to enact a fraud alert, so that'll have to do.
I was able to enact a fraud alert, so that'll have to do.
Waiting4M3
Active Member
What if CreditKarma or CreditSesame get hacked? How can one trust those services assuming they can be hacked just like Equifax/Experian/TransUnion?
Waiting4M3
Active Member
EquiFax's PIN seems to be randomize now, at least when I did my freeze today.Minimize your risk and don't reuse PINs. Especially since Equifax's PIN is AWFUL. It's literally a timestamp of when you froze the account. So, all the people freezing their accounts now due to the Equifax breach all have similar PINs. To be specific, if you froze your account at 2:15 PM Eastern on Sept 9, you'd get a PIN that is 0908171415 (MMDDYYHHMM). Great security
Just use something like Lastpass to avoid having to "remember" PINs.
I was able to successfully freeze Experian by phone.
Transunion has a free service that allows locking and unlocking one's credit report on demand. Is no one using this versus the $10 freeze that requires a PIN? They have the same affect in that they lock out anyone from accessing your credit without your express permission.
Transunion has a free service that allows locking and unlocking one's credit report on demand. Is no one using this versus the $10 freeze that requires a PIN? They have the same affect in that they lock out anyone from accessing your credit without your express permission.
Waiting4M3
Active Member
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Jason Bourne
Member
dgpcolorado
high altitude member
Not for me when I did it a few days ago. They might have made it free because of the Equifax mess or it might be my state (CO).
Bokonon
Title-customizing Member
Seems like Credit Lock is also available through TransUnion's basic TrueIdentity service, which is free... though the Service Agreement states (at least twice) that:
Successfully froze with Experian and Transunion last night, but several attempts with Equifax kept failing (not surprised). When Equifax's website finally decided to work for me it said my account was already frozen! It must have successfully frozen during one of the (what I thought were) failed attempts. It never gave me a PIN due to their website being hammered and just poorly executed. Now I have to send a letter along with proof of ID to them to request a new PIN...
That's the one, TrueIdentity, and the disclaimer is fair. The other 2 reporting agencies need to follow.
However, unfortunately, it's for naught currently: "We are temporarily unable to complete your request." - the msg I've received for the last 12 hours. Guess I'll be calling them shortly.
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