Unfreezing Credit Reports

[calico1597]

DH and I are in our new winter home and trying to get set up with Dish TV. They told us they use Equifax to check credit, so I went online and lifted the freeze for two days. No go with Dish, they said they couldn't get to my credit records then tell me that sometimes the other credit bureaus are used. So I lifted the Experian and Transunion freezes also for two days. We waited a couple hours for the freeze lifts to process, at last check still a no go. Is this unusual?

I've talked with Equifax twice on the phone today, they assure me the freeze is temporary lifted. I can't find phone numbers for the other two that has a real person to talk to.

 

[Sunset]

No experience, but I put fraud alerts on our accounts as don't want to pay to freeze/unfreeze everytime some stupid company feels they need a credit check.

Are you paying to unfreeze these accounts ?

Can't the dish company simply have you pay a few hundred in advance instead of a credit check ?

 

[skipro33]

Ask them if they can do an automatic payment via a credit card or bank account. That should satisfy their concern about getting paid and a credit check shouldn't be required. I know every auto bill pay I've ever set up circumvented a credit check.

 

[DEC-1982]

I temporarily lifted the credit freeze last week on all 3 (for 1 week) without any problems. For Equifax, I talked to the rep who lifted it. For the other two, I lifted them online.

 

[donheff]

Sounds like a bit of bad luck. I lifted all three briefly three times and had no problems.

 

[plsprius]

Is there an easy way to confirm that a freeze is in place?

I put Equifax (only) 'in the freezer' after their security breach, and received the pdf with the pin. That was 30+ days ago, and so far I haven't received any further communication or confirmation of the freeze.

This is in contrast to the fraud alert I initially placed after the security breach. For that I received a notice in the mail.

I suppose I could call them, but don't want to waste my time on hold...

 

[audreyh1]

Is there an easy way to confirm that a freeze is in place?

I put Equifax (only) 'in the freezer' after their security breach, and received the pdf with the pin. That was 30+ days ago, and so far I haven't received any further communication or confirmation of the freeze.

This is in contrast to the fraud alert I initially placed after the security breach. For that I received a notice in the mail.

I suppose I could call them, but don't want to waste my time on hold...

They tell you when you freeze online that there will be nothing mailed to you. The PDF is the confirmation.

 

[Sunset]

Too bad there was not an independent way to actually confirm Equiflub really put a freeze in place, since they are so trustworthy !

 

[Bflotomny]

I have frozen and removed same several times without problem.
Has everyone put a freeze on the DW account also. Recently I check each bureau if freezes were in place only to find the wife was missing on Trans.That was a surprise.
I have also begun to ask the creditor who they use to check. And then open only that service for review.

 

[DatumPoint5]

I think many of us are chasing ghosts on this issue...... There currently are four "credit reporting" entities. Equifax, Experian, Transunion and Innovis. And there is nothing to stop a fifth, sixth, or a seventh entity from starting up operations and even more competitors can start up after that. There is NO centralized control of this information, and there are NO laws governing the capture and storage of someone's personal information. My suggestion is to just ignore this noise. Freezing your credit report will NOT stop a hacker from getting into those files. A hacker generally will not "try to turn the doorknob on the front door" to see if it's locked!!!

 

[Corporateburnout]

I think many of us are chasing ghosts on this issue...... There currently are four "credit reporting" entities. Equifax, Experian, Transunion and Innovis. And there is nothing to stop a fifth, sixth, or a seventh entity from starting up operations and even more competitors can start up after that. There is NO centralized control of this information, and there are NO laws governing the capture and storage of someone's personal information. My suggestion is to just ignore this noise. Freezing your credit report will NOT stop a hacker from getting into those files. A hacker generally will not "try to turn the doorknob on the front door" to see if it's locked!!!

So what in your opinion should we do to protect our identity? Do nothing and hope for the best?

I've had my credit report frozen with the three major bureaus for over 7 years and have not yet been a victim of identity theft. So far it has worked for me.

 

[Corporateburnout]

Has everyone put a freeze on the DW account also. Recently I check each bureau if freezes were in place only to find the wife was missing on Trans.That was a surprise.

If you're concerned about your wife's credit information you need to put a freeze on her report independent of yours.

 

[GrayHare]

So what in your opinion should we do to protect our identity? Do nothing and hope that for the best?

I've had my credit report frozen with the three major bureaus for over 7 years and have not yet been a victim of identity theft. So far it has worked for me.

Many have never frozen and not had ID theft. To see if freezing makes a positive difference we need data from a large number of people.

Freezing your credit requires providing identifying information, possibly adding new personal info to the hackable database.

 

[happy8]

Freezing your credit requires providing identifying information, possibly adding new personal info to the hackable database.

When I froze my credit identifying information was requested, but it seemed to me this was for the purpose of verifying my identity, and was being matched with information they already had. I did not provide any information that I would not expect the credit reporting agency to already possess. So, I don't believe that freezing process added to risk in this respect.

I have unfrozen my credit to lease a car and had no issues.

 

[Corporateburnout]

Many have never frozen and not had ID theft. To see if freezing makes a positive difference we need data from a large number of people.

Freezing your credit requires providing identifying information, possibly adding new personal info to the hackable database.

I was a victim of identity theft about 10 years ago and I don't want to take a chance of going through it again by waiting for a large data sample.

From the limited data sample of my friends, family members and acquaintances who had their credit frozen, no one has been a victim of identity theft.

 

[happy8]

I was a victim of identity theft about 10 years ago and I don't want to take a chance of going through it again by waiting for a large data sample.

My belief is that freezing your credit is a no brainer for the vast majority of people. Upside is potentially enormous and very small downside.

 

[Sunset]

It just royally sucks that in some States, you have to pay to freeze and unfreeze your account each time.
What a nice benefit the credit companies get for not handling the data they stored

In IL each action for each credit company costs $10, so unfreeze 3 is $30, want it frozen again $30.
Total of $60 everytime some company says "we want to know if you can pay for this"...

 

[happy8]

It just royally sucks that in some States, you have to pay to freeze and unfreeze your account each time.
What a nice benefit the credit companies get for not handling the data they stored

In IL each action for each credit company costs $10, so unfreeze 3 is $30, want it frozen again $30.
Total of $60 everytime some company says "we want to know if you can pay for this"...

Agree completely, it should be free. How the credit reporting companies get away with charging you to make sure they handle your information in a secure way is beyond me!

 

[Corporateburnout]

In our state it only cost $5 for a transaction with a time limit. So you can unfreeze it for a week for $5. A small price to pay for peace of mind.

 

[audreyh1]

When I froze my credit identifying information was requested, but it seemed to me this was for the purpose of verifying my identity, and was being matched with information they already had. I did not provide any information that I would not expect the credit reporting agency to already possess. So, I don't believe that freezing process added to risk in this respect.

I have unfrozen my credit to lease a car and had no issues.

Right.

 

[Gumby]

I got a new smartphone last night. It took three hours. The majority of that time was spent trying to deal with unfreezing my credit so they could check it. At one point, I drove back home to get the credit bureau paperwork out of my file cabinet. I was prepared to buy the new phone outright, but the carrier required us to get the installment plan to get the 2 for 1 deal. After talking directly to TransUnion and paying $20, they supposedly unfroze my credit. It still didn't work. Eventually, the carrier found a way to accommodate me without a credit check.

Moral of the story, unfreeze your credit well before you will need to have it checked. In my opinion, the whole credit bureau thing is a gigantic scam and I would not be sad to see those companies regulated out of existence.

 

[calico1597]

Update - three days later and Dish TV still can not get a credit report. Yesterday I unfroze all accounts and saved the confirmation that they were unfrozen. Today Equifax is telling me that they can not unfreeze my account because it's under a name that I legally changed 18 years ago and that I need to file a dispute with them. All I did was drop a first name and take my middle name as my first name. They had no problem putting the freeze on three months ago. I am not charged for these changes because I live a state that is free to those over 65. So now we've taken the freeze off DH Equifax and will try the Dish credit report under his name. What a headache.

 

[scrabbler1]

I froze my credit reports in 2014(?) following the BCBS data breach. They each sent me something in the mail (or on-screen) with PIN codes to unfreeze them if I needed to. In my state, New York, there is no charge to unfreeze.


In 2015, I tried to apply for a store CC to get a discount on a purchase. After some wrangling, I was denied but never told why, and I had forgotten I froze the reports. It took me like 20 minutes to buy one or two items, a major PITA.


I later received a letter from the store's credit department telling me I had been rejected. I called them and found out it was because my credit reports were frozen. I told the rep it would have been nice to have been told this before all the wrangling at the cashier when I tried to make my purchase, not that I could have thawed the report at the time.


Fast forward to when I applied to increase the limit on my main CC (which I have through my local bank). The next day, I got a call from the credit department asking me to thaw my report from one agency so they could review it. I couldn't do it right away, but a few hours later, I dug out the PIN letter and called the rep back. She conferenced us to the agency, I gave that rep the PIN, and she thawed my report. The bank rep quickly reviewed the report and granted me the limit increase. Night and day.

 

[sengsational]

It is my opinion that making it a PITA to freeze and unfreeze is just the credit bureau's way of getting us to throw our hands up and say "to heck with it, I'll leave them thawed".

I've had my entire family's files frozen in "all" three for over 10 years.

Even though I'm in a free to freeze and thaw state, there have been times where I've decided against something because it required a thaw. It's especially annoying when the company wanting to do the credit check doesn't tell you which service they'll be using. That means all 3.

The good news is that they have temporary thaws, so that after a period of time, they all re-freeze.

For those of you who think that freezing won't stop hackers from getting into your files...maybe not. But they won't be able to open credit in MY name as easily as they would be to open credit in YOUR name, if you're not frozen. That's good enough for me. You dangle yourself out there as an easy target, while I'm a bit harder to get. It's just like having an alarm system; thieves can trivially enter any house they'd like, but as long as there are houses without alarms, why bother with the ones that have them?

 

[audreyh1]

For those of you who think that freezing won't stop hackers from getting into your files...maybe not. But they won't be able to open credit in MY name as easily as they would be to open credit in YOUR name, if you're not frozen. That's good enough for me. You dangle yourself out there as an easy target, while I'm a bit harder to get. It's just like having an alarm system; thieves can trivially enter any house they'd like, but as long as there are houses without alarms, why bother with the ones that have them?

Yep.

Can they hack in and unfreeze my credit? Maybe if the credit monitoring company is not thorough enough in vetting. But still - that's a lot more trouble and they would have to actually pay something too. There are more likely to go after someone with less barriers.

I much prefer the company that sends mail to the current known address to confirm the freeze/unfreeze. In freezing credit, only one company did not mail me notice to my current known address - Equifax.