Community Forums

saddlesore · 10-12-2017, 06:05 PM

If......
You are still of "Working Age"....
Be aware that employers also check credit reporting companies, not only when you are seeking different employment... but also while you are employed by them.
(In my profession my credit & financial well being was checked at least twice a year)

Old-Biscuit · 10-12-2017, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saddlesore

If......
You are still of "Working Age"....
Be aware that employers also check credit reporting companies, not only when you are seeking different employment... but also while you are employed by them.
(In my profession my credit & financial well being was checked at least twice a year)

Simple....Employer then has to ASK and one does a 'temporary unfreeze'

OR maybe NOT.
I would have to be provided with a Valid Reason for their NEED

georgelesley · 10-13-2017, 06:10 AM

About 14 years ago DW purse was stolen. We of course canceled all cards and froze the credit bureaus. To get credit after that was not all that difficult, just took positive in person ID and a few Q’s.

A few thoughts I have about the issue. Granted freezing the credit bureaus will stop most stuff. But ID theft via drivers license, other license such as sporting, etc?

Indy Glenn · 10-13-2017, 06:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BraveWrigley

We have excellent credit and are retired and have no reason to apply for any new credit so in wake of all the credit scams and breaches of personal information we elected to deny access to our credit reports ....

Found this article and it had links to all three credit bureaus so we checked them out, filled out the short forms and took the identity test so as to verify it was really me (us wife did too) and closed all three credit accounts access .....

Best part besides peace of mind was it was super easy and FREE, we like FREE!

Here is the link:

How to Freeze Your Credit Report at TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian | Gen X Finance

We are in your shoes........retired, 800+ credit score.

Besides being in the Equifax hack - which they have never notified me of other than their online check I did myself........I believe Google was hacked a couple years ago, and we are both retired federal employees and the feds own personnel system was hacked.........WOW!!!!!

So we froze all our credit, no new cards for us neither, we have actually closed many credit card accounts such as department stores, electronic stores, and the like. I could see us having to unfreeze it in the future when purchasing a new car, never thought about insurance companies........I believe they may check a credit report, even if you pay in full, more for a character report such the same way employers do when hiring.

I took it a step further tho.....

We travel a lot, within the states and outside the states, Europe mostly, so I ended up getting a credit monitoring company. One that monitors all your accounts, credit cards, etc. and helps repair your record if there is ID theft. What a shame I have to do this but just for that elusive peace of mind when it comes to credit.........

g

BraveWrigley · 10-13-2017, 07:25 AM

Kinda same subject ..... Equifax has more issues, now they are distributing “fake” Adobe Flash Update Software ...... IF you upload your computer will be infected with Malware - Advertising Malware ..... This just came to light late yesterday - 10/12/17 ..... Beware Folks these thieves are more dangerous than your average street thief and worst part is your local law enforcement may not be able to help .....

https://arstechnica.com/information-...-flash-update/

BraveWrigley · 10-13-2017, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indy Glenn

We are in your shoes........retired, 800+ credit score.

Besides being in the Equifax hack - which they have never notified me of other than their online check I did myself........I believe Google was hacked a couple years ago, and we are both retired federal employees and the feds own personnel system was hacked.........WOW!!!!!

So we froze all our credit, no new cards for us neither, we have actually closed many credit card accounts such as department stores, electronic stores, and the like. I could see us having to unfreeze it in the future when purchasing a new car, never thought about insurance companies........I believe they may check a credit report, even if you pay in full, more for a character report such the same way employers do when hiring.

I took it a step further tho.....

We travel a lot, within the states and outside the states, Europe mostly, so I ended up getting a credit monitoring company. One that monitors all your accounts, credit cards, etc. and helps repair your record if there is ID theft. What a shame I have to do this but just for that elusive peace of mind when it comes to credit.........

g

You sleep well and you like me could care less about Employment, I actually owned my biz for some 36 years before selling last year so noone other than the Bank did much checking ....

I did find it interesting when I got my 2015 Outback I was able to walk into a DealerShip and drove away without putting down a cent and had 48 month 1.49 interest loan and I only showed my driver license, which could of easily fake, which shows just how easy it is to impersonate someone, I mean the car sales guy was by no means any kind of identity expert.

MSHappyCampers · 10-13-2017, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by h20ski

Check this out. I opted out about 10 years ago and my junk mail has dried up. It will also only allow people that has signed authoriztion from you to ping you credit reports.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/article...alls-and-email

Thank you!

BraveWrigley · 10-13-2017, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers

Thank you!

MOST Welcome, I know I sleep better .... Just noticed, we had a 2012 CRV great car-great mileage!

MSHappyCampers · 10-13-2017, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BraveWrigley

Stop it ..... Not a scam, link is working:

Check out yourself

How to Freeze Your Credit Report at TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian | Gen X Finance

Genx even has a Facebook page with a bunch of likes .... Be careful please before posting - here is their Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/genxfinance

The link still doesn't work for me! I tried the Experian link and it worked. I filled in all the info and they rejected it!

They said I would have to mail in a bunch of other documentation!

The Transunion and Equifax was a breeze!

BraveWrigley · 10-13-2017, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers

The link still doesn't work for me! I tried the Experian link and it worked. I filled in all the info and they rejected it!

They said I would have to mail in a bunch of other documentation!

The Transunion and Equifax was a breeze!

Curious, perhaps something was mis-inputted .... I’d give it a few hours or even over weekend and try again .... Both wife and I went right thru on all three .... Best to ya!

MSHappyCampers · 10-13-2017, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BraveWrigley

Curious, perhaps something was mis-inputted .... I’d give it a few hours or even over weekend and try again .... Both wife and I went right thru on all three .... Best to ya!

I went back and tried it again. They asked different questions. This time it went through!

saddlesore · 10-13-2017, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

OR maybe NOT.
I would have to be provided with a Valid Reason for their NEED

Reason being...
Retention of Employer/employee,Transportation/storage,DOD,TWIC & other security clearances.

Sweetbriar · 10-13-2017, 01:04 PM

I've had the three credit reports frozen for about ten years and have gotten loans, credit cards, changed employers, refinanced the coach and completed a government security clearance during that time.

Simple and easy to do a short term thaw when needed. Each time an organization has needed to access my credit information they have contacted me (I was expecting the call). I inquire which reporting agency they are working with and I'll go on line and thaw that one for a week or so. Even performed a thaw while I still had the bank on the phone and they were able to pull a report within seconds of the thaw. Haven't gotten a call from USAA or Progressive regarding insurance needing a thaw.

The initial freeze did cost a few dollars but each thaw is free. Each state has different regulations regarding the cost for the service.

The one downside is I can't get a credit account at the check out counter of a department store but is that really a bad thing? To limit my exposure I only have credit cards from two credit unions that I have been a member of for many years. Part of my morning routine is to down load banking activity into Quicken and check irv2 for any interesting new topics. The one hack that keeps me up is Federal Income Tax fraud. Real PITA and I have no desire to endure the guilty before proven guiltier IRS.

And the link to opt out of junk mail does work. Did that one several years ago also. Turned 56 this summer and have yet to get anything from AARP. They are a rather aggressive group.

baraff · 10-13-2017, 06:16 PM

The thing that bothers me about potential employers checking credit history and making judgements based on that is what about someone who has no choice but to declare bankruptcy because of, or has severe debt because they have no job and health insurance and have extensive medical debt? They might be the most trustworthy individual in the world and they are denied employment because they can't pay their bills.
I think this probably happens more often than we realize. Painting all defaulted debtors with a broad brush as deadbeats is just wrong in my book. Just one more tool to narrow down the field of qualified applicants...