Freeze credit?

[wmc1000]

Did the credit freeze for DW and myself at Experian and Equifax, TransUnion is having problems right now. Luckily in Indiana freezing, thawing and lifting are no cost. Will try TransUnion again tomorrow

[shortstop14]

I kind of agree with the point of it being a shakedown. In my state, it's $10 per credit check service for each of us - so $60 to solve a problem I didn't create. And $10 each for a temporary unfreeze. I know I still need to do it - but every time I start my innate cheapness and annoyance kicks in.

[Katsmeow]

I have never done a credit freeze before. In my state it is $10 to freeze (for each bureau), $10 to unlock temporarily ($12 if for a specific lender only which is weird).

I went to Transunion first and notice that it has True Identity which is its own free product. You can basically lock and unlock your credit report whenever you want to. It is free. You can upgrade but $9.95 a month but I am not interested in any of the upgrades. Has anyone used this? Is there any reason that this wouldn't be preferable to doing the $10 freeze (plus $10 to unlock each time)?

[imokurok]

Did the freeze at all 3. Don't intend to add debt, and $10 to freeze out troublemakers seems like a reasonable "investment."

[Spock]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fermion Actually to be honest, the only way the system is going to actually change is if more people are like Nightcap and refuse to pay the extortion. If the number of fake bank accounts and credit cards goes up drastically after this event, the banks and companies will need to implement big changes or face severe losses. Everyone freezing their credit and having to unfreeze it to do something just takes the responsibility off of the bank or CC company to actually do legwork to verify that the person they are trying to give $50,000 to is actually the right person.

I'm heading the other way.
If most everybody freezes their credit, the credit agencies won't make as much money selling access to your info (in parallel we need to hammer on congress to make freezing free).

Shake the whole process up... drive a wholesale new approach to identity verification/credit history... throw in a buzzword like blockchain.

In the "be careful what you ask for" column, in no way shape or form is the new process to use implanted chips or anything else invasive.

And as always, pay cash, never debit.

[timo2]

The once or twice I ran into problems with having frozen my credit agency accounts, the vendors I was dealing with found another way around it (except for the Post Office when I was setting up some sort of tracking thing with them). I'm thinking with more people freezing their credit, the vendors and merchants, to keep their businesses going, will just find ways around the credit bureaus. So yes, like others said, the credit bureaus may start losing money.

[easysurfer]

Just thinking aloud. But would be nice if the credit bureaus had something like pay once for $50 and you can freeze/unfreeze all you want. Otherwise, does feel like a shake down.

[JoeWras]

I pulled my reports and noticed a soft request from my insurance company last spring. I called them up and asked if I freeze my credit, what happens?

The answer: no effect on your coverage or ability to get coverage, but since I have such a great credit score, they won't be able to verify it and my rate will likely go up.

So, add another downside to frozen credit.

I still don't know what I'm going to do. I currently have monitoring for free as a benefit from Megac*rp. It actually works decently well.

[canuck5]

Interesting that the hackers are selling this "data", to fraudsters, with payment in bitcoin. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exper...172337733.html

It's a good thing I change my social security number every 6 months, so I never have to worry about this breach, the rest of my life ....... Oh, wait a minute!!

My credit has been frozen for years, but if you notice in they will use credit card number that I haven't used in years. I have cancelled several, but not sure if I have cancelled them all.

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeWras I pulled my reports and noticed a soft request from my insurance company last spring. I called them up and asked if I freeze my credit, what happens? The answer: no effect on your coverage or ability to get coverage, but since I have such a great credit score, they won't be able to verify it and my rate will likely go up. So, add another downside to frozen credit. I still don't know what I'm going to do. I currently have monitoring for free as a benefit from Megac*rp. It actually works decently well.

I don't know that this is true. I have had my credit frozen for years (but info still released w/ the hack...yay!) and my insurance company hasn't had issues pulling info. I *believe* that if you have a business relationship w/ the company, then they can still do a pull. I *know* this is the case w/ Chase since all my hard pulls have been w/ them and when I applied for the Sapphire Preferred card, I specifically asked them if I needed to do a thaw and they said it wasn't necessary because they already had access w/ the current accounts.

[JoeWras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 I don't know that this is true. I have had my credit frozen for years (but info still released w/ the hack...yay!) and my insurance company hasn't had issues pulling info. I *believe* that if you have a business relationship w/ the company, then they can still do a pull. I *know* this is the case w/ Chase since all my hard pulls have been w/ them and when I applied for the Sapphire Preferred card, I specifically asked them if I needed to do a thaw and they said it wasn't necessary because they already had access w/ the current accounts.

It is "true" according to my customer service person at Amica. Whether she got the right story or not is another matter.

I'm not pulling this out of the air. I called them and specifically asked.

I thought the same thing as you, the "business relationship" thing. Then again, if it is some crappy automated robo-underwriter program that they use, maybe she is right. It is a soft request on my report too, she verified that much. So, I'm confused. I don't study "credit reports 101" for a living. Maybe she doesn't either. She did put me on hold to ask someone who knows, supposedly.

All I know is that this whole fiasco has really p*ssed me off.

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeWras It is "true" according to my customer service person at Amica. Whether she got the right story or not is another matter. I'm not pulling this out of the air. I called them and specifically asked. I thought the same thing as you, the "business relationship" thing. Then again, if it is some crappy automated robo-underwriter program that they use, maybe she is right. It is a soft request on my report too, she verified that much. So, I'm confused. I don't study "credit reports 101" for a living. Maybe she doesn't either. She did put me on hold to ask someone who knows, supposedly. All I know is that this whole fiasco has really p*ssed me off.

I am an Amica policy holder as well and they have never had issues pulling what they need. But...there are other databases out there that they can pull stuff on, specifically Lexis Nexis which has a TON more information than what is in your credit report. It has everything from what is on your credit, mortgage info and deeds, insurance policies, claims, business associations that are tied to you, links to people that you may live with, links to your neighbors...the info that they have is absolutely mind boggling. The information they sent me when I requested it was over 200 pages long.

[JoeWras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 I am an Amica policy holder as well and they have never had issues pulling what they need. But...there are other databases out there that they can pull stuff on, specifically Lexis Nexis which has a TON more information than what is in your credit report. It has everything from what is on your credit, mortgage info and deeds, insurance policies, claims, business associations that are tied to you, links to people that you may live with, links to your neighbors...the info that they have is absolutely mind boggling. The information they sent me when I requested it was over 200 pages long.

Cool. Do you know if you are getting a built in discount for your credit? She wasn't exactly forthcoming, but implied it to me based on my score. It isn't detailed on your bill, just some mumbo-jumbo they build into your rate.

I dunno, it probably isn't much, and the risk of getting toasted by identity theft may be worse than a few dollars discount.

I think I may freeze, then call them next year a few months before my renewal to see if I have any good credit discount. It sounded automatic. Not sure their computer will dig deeper on a renewal or not.

Frankly, this was not a good time to call them. They are completely whacked by the hurricanes and this breech. Sounds like people are burning the midnight oil.

As end consumers, we may not have much say (but call your congress person). The real consumers of these services such as the insurance companies need to put the screws to these credit cowboys.

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeWras Cool. Do you know if you are getting a built in discount for your credit? She wasn't exactly forthcoming, but implied it to me based on my score. It isn't detailed on your bill, just some mumbo-jumbo they build into your rate. I dunno, it probably isn't much, and the risk of getting toasted by identity theft may be worse than a few dollars discount. I think I may freeze, then call them next year a few months before my renewal. Frankly, this was not a good time to call them. They are completely whacked by the hurricanes and this breech. Sounds like people are burning the midnight oil. As end consumers, we may not have much say (but call your congress person). The real consumers of these services such as the insurance companies need to put the screws to these credit cowboys.

I pulled up my policies and credit wasn't specifically listed. I believe that if you get a rate "penalty" due to credit issues, they have to disclose that. If I recall, my Dad had a notice of that a/ Amica but his credit was just about non-existent at the time.

Speaking of them being slammed, I see that the Amica page had two banners, "CLICK HERE FOR HARVEY CLAIMS" and "CLICK HERE FOR IRMA CLAIMS". Not great times for the insurance companies, eh?

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 I don't know that this is true. I have had my credit frozen for years (but info still released w/ the hack...yay!) and my insurance company hasn't had issues pulling info. I *believe* that if you have a business relationship w/ the company, then they can still do a pull. I *know* this is the case w/ Chase since all my hard pulls have been w/ them and when I applied for the Sapphire Preferred card, I specifically asked them if I needed to do a thaw and they said it wasn't necessary because they already had access w/ the current accounts.

The opposite happened with me as a Chase (and previous Bank One) customer with several accounts (CC's, checking, CD's, SD Box, old mortgage) when I applied to get a Amazon CC with $5K limit. I got a letter from Chase asking to temporarily unfreeze my Experian account so that they could check my credit. I have a current score of 838. Go figure!

I guess it varies from location to location, unless they see me as a deadbeat.

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aja8888 The opposite happened with me as a Chase (and previous Bank One) customer with several accounts (CC's, checking, CD's, SD Box, old mortgage) when I applied to get a Amazon CC with $5K limit. I got a letter from Chase asking to temporarily unfreeze my Experian account so that they could check my credit. I have a current score of 838. Go figure! I guess it varies from location to location, unless they see me as a deadbeat.

Interesting. Perhaps they changed their policy? Hell, there really is no telling. The only thing that is certain in life is uncertainty.

[Katsmeow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer Just thinking aloud. But would be nice if the credit bureaus had something like pay once for $50 and you can freeze/unfreeze all you want. Otherwise, does feel like a shake down.

This is why I was asking about TransUnion's True Identity. It is their product where you can lock your credit report or unlock it whenever you want. And, it has no cost to it. It seems more hassle free (you can upgrade and pay for additional features, but I don't need those). I am thinking of doing it with TransUnion and freezing with everyone else.

[easysurfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsmeow This is why I was asking about TransUnion's True Identity. It is their product where you can lock your credit report or unlock it whenever you want. And, it has no cost to it. It seems more hassle free (you can upgrade and pay for additional features, but I don't need those). I am thinking of doing it with TransUnion and freezing with everyone else.

My credit is frozen at all three places.

Did go ahead and look at TransUnion's site last night about True Identity. Hopefully, the other two will copy. I like the idea of controlling access to my credit report myself.

[Katsmeow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer My credit is frozen at all three places. Did go ahead and look at TransUnion's site last night about True Identity. Hopefully, the other two will copy. I like the idea of controlling access to my credit report myself.

I like but the downside that I see if that if someone hacks me or my passwords and gains access to True Identity and unlocks the credit report then I have no recourse since I control it all. I do like the control it myself aspect of it with no cost, but I wonder if there is more protection with the true credit freeze.

[nwsteve]

Took about 3 tries to complete freeze for self and DW on Equifax.
Good news that their pin now appears to be a random number instead of numeric version of date and time.
The actual confirmation pages emphasized printing the page and using only the Adobe link to print--only problem on both pcs I used, neither presented a print link. Ended up save (right click) as pdf file and then printing from it. If you do a page print you will only get the boilerplate and not your pin number