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Might consider Innovis too, it's not one of the big three but it's still a credit reporting agency.Same here, put on a freeze on all 3 agencies.
Thanks Jeff, just did Innovis as well, pleasant surprise is Innovis was free...(as the others should be)Might consider Innovis too, it's not one of the big three but it's still a credit reporting agency.
Credit freeze offers the best protection. Most of those other things just alert you that the barn door was open and the horses escaped. A credit freeze actually keeps the horses from escaping.
If you're applying for a loan, sometimes you can find out which credit agency they are going to use, and if so, you just saw that one agency. Otherwise, you have to thought all three. I have had my credit frozen for a couple years, and it gives you great peace of mind.
Here is a good credit freeze guide Credit Freeze Guide: The best way to protect yourself against identity theft
If you freeze them in the order that is done on this article, the first site will create a number, you can use that pin number for the next site, and then only six digits of that pin number for the third site. This way you don't have tons of different pin numbers.
I just did all three and Equifax was free, the others were only $5 each though (for Ohio).I'm in the process of freezing all three. Equifax, the villain in this scandal, was easy online and it seems to be free (not sure about unlocking though).
OMG, it feels like Equifax is constantly looking for new ways to be stupid and unsecure. And to have to PAY THEM to freeze and unfreeze a credit report for something they did is unconscionable. But of course I'm going to do it and a lot of other people are too.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.
Simple: they make their money by selling your information to other businesses. They really don't like it when you freeze your account....One question - why aren’t these reports locked by default if it’s so much safer? If I’m trying to open a new line of credit then I can give my permission to access them, otherwise it’s no one’s business.
I froze all three, and all were free. They seem to range between $5 and $10 to unfreeze them, which irritates me to no end. Why should Equifax (or really, any of them) profit from their screw up? If a company loses my personal information and puts me at risk, they should pay for credit monitoring for life, as well as cover any other costs that I have related to steps I am forced to take to protect myself. It’s not like after a year I’m suddenly not at risk anymore - I can’t exactly change my SSN or birthdate.
One question - why aren’t these reports locked by default if it’s so much safer? If I’m trying to open a new line of credit then I can give my permission to access them, otherwise it’s no one’s business.
Because, that is how these companies make their money. They sell your credit profile to companies so you can get all those incessant solicitations for credit cards etc. That is one upside to freezing your credit, you get less, if any, solicitations for credit cards.
Does freezing my file mean that I won't receive pre-approved credit offers?
No. You can stop the pre-approved credit offers by calling 888-5OPTOUT (888-567-8688). Or you can do this online at www.optoutprescreen.com. This will stop most of the offers, the ones that go through the credit bureaus. It's good for five years or you can make it permanent.