Community Forums

**CLIFFTALL** · 09-09-2017, 03:51 AM

From what I've been reading , people over 65 can freeze their credit ( with all three agencies ) for free ( $10 fee waived ).

**CLIFFTALL** · 09-09-2017, 05:36 AM

I just did all three. Two by phone and equinox on line. Thanks for all the good info posted here.
Here's the site I used to get more info.

http://clark.com/personal-finance-cr...nd-thaw-guide/

boomersooner · 09-09-2017, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yogus

I put credit "freezes" on our credit files this morning. The check I did on Equifax said both my DH and I were compromised. I was actually able to do a freeze on Equifax and Experian...Transunions website is frozen and will not move. I will keep trying.

For the priviledge of them giving the hackers our personal information it costs $3.00 per person, per Credit Company to put a freeze on. $24.00 for DH and I. They are making money off of this!

If they could get fined, maybe $100.00 per person, ($100 x 143,000,000) perhaps they would have a tighter security team. Ya think?

I froze mine and my wife's this morning. The only one that did not work very well was Experian for her account. Had to mail it off, other than that all worked well. I think Equifax should be fined heavily and pay out to all who are affected, and their exec's who sold stock immediately after the hack should go to jail for insider trading.

jacwjames · 09-12-2017, 07:18 PM

On Sept 3 I recieved a text message fraud alert from one of my CC. They froze the account and I finally received a new CC.

But this got me thinking. The Equifax identity theft happen months ago, was this part of the theft. I've read that fraud reports have gone up 15% and that the thieves are selling small amounts so the info can be tested. Once they sell the info in bulk there will be a dramatic increase.

So tonight I tried to freeze my accounts.

Equifax went through on the 2nd attempt, no coast.

Transunion went through on the first attempt >>> Cost was $19.50

The Experian site denied my request and 2nd attempt. I have to mail the info with a check for $7.50.

So it cost me $27 to freeze my accounts.

Assume 25% of the people do this >>> cost is $965M that the companies will make off the theft.

There are dozens of class action suits against equafax, I may join one just to protect myself.

Winepress · 09-12-2017, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacwjames

On Sept 3 I recieved a text message fraud alert from one of my CC. They froze the account and I finally received a new CC.

But this got me thinking. The Equifax identity theft happen months ago, was this part of the theft. I've read that fraud reports have gone up 15% and that the thieves are selling small amounts so the info can be tested. Once they sell the info in bulk there will be a dramatic increase.

So tonight I tried to freeze my accounts.

Equifax went through on the 2nd attempt, no coast.

Transunion went through on the first attempt >>> Cost was $19.50

The Experian site denied my request and 2nd attempt. I have to mail the info with a check for $7.50.

So it cost me $27 to freeze my accounts.

Assume 25% of the people do this >>> cost is $965M that the companies will make off the theft.

There are dozens of class action suits against equafax, I may join one just to protect myself.

If you are a victim of identity theft, the freeze is at no cost. Most states limit the amount that can be charged for a freeze.

http://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-ex...cra/tennessee/

barmcd · 09-13-2017, 06:55 AM

I've had continuous credit monitoring since 2012 paid for by various companies who exposed my data to hackers. Nationwide Insurance, Home Depot, Target and a couple others I can't recall. My wife currently has a full Lifelock subscription paid for by her previous employer. Someone in HR fell for a phishing scam and mailed all their employees social security numbers to persons unknown. The employee was fired.

We can gnash our teeth and complain, but the government isn't going to do anything to protect the consumer. Look at what Wells Fargo has been up to recently -- opening fraudulent accounts, taking out unneeded insurance policies, and running up late fees and penalties on people who didn't even know they had an account. This isn't a lapse of judgment, its an outright criminal activity. So far no Wells Fargo executive has been charged for the abuses.

The problems are just going to get worse.

MSHappyCampers · 09-13-2017, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clifftall

From what I've been reading , people over 65 can freeze their credit ( with all three agencies ) for free ( $10 fee waived ).

How do we do that?

**CLIFFTALL** · 09-13-2017, 02:20 PM

See the link I posted in #30. It has all the info I used.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers

How do we do that?

baraff · 09-14-2017, 07:53 AM

Well, good luck freezing your credit with the three agencies. I tried and they're all slammed and their systems are down periodically. On the third try I got through to Equifax (online) and after filling everything out they said I had to SNAIL MAIL my personal info, SS#, birth date, etc. Yeah, right. I'm going to send my personal information off in the totally incompetent US Mail system to some unknown person at Equifax who will then manually key in everything.
What could possibly go wrong? LOL

Caution: Rant below:
I'm telling you, this is an industry which needs to be burnt to the ground and rebuilt. We should be able to OPT IN to whom we want our credit information shared with, it should be LOCKED DOWN at all other times. To me this no different than sharing medical information. Look at how stringent the HIPAA laws are for that. It should be the same for the credit industry.
Given that I or anybody else here, never gave the big three permission to stockpile, store and share (sell) our personal information, I believe that constitutes a criminal and /or civil action. You better believe I'm joining a class action suit when it becomes available.
Rant over

jacwjames · 09-16-2017, 04:46 PM

[QUOTE=
Caution: Rant below:
I'm telling you, this is an industry which needs to be burnt to the ground and rebuilt. We should be able to OPT IN to whom we want our credit information shared with, it should be LOCKED DOWN at all other times. To me this no different than sharing medical information. Look at how stringent the HIPAA laws are for that. It should be the same for the credit industry.
Given that I or anybody else here, never gave the big three permission to stockpile, store and share (sell) our personal information, I believe that constitutes a criminal and /or civil action. You better believe I'm joining a class action suit when it becomes available.
Rant over[/QUOTE]

I agree 100%. The fact that they can have and share this information with anyone who inquires about "MY" credit worthiness is a crime in itself.

I also agree that the government will not do anything, unless a bunch of them are the victim of identity theft.

knightstorm · 09-16-2017, 07:00 PM

There is a fourth credit reporting company, Innovis, where credit reports should be frozen.

S Bradley · 10-29-2017, 04:38 PM

The three credit reporting companies are privately owned, they mine our data for personal gain. I never gave permission for them to collect, store or use my data.

Equifax should be held financially responsible for any and all identity theft to any person identified in this data breach.

All three companies should be held liable, they should also be force to acquire permission before they collect this data, if permission is not given they should scrub it from their systems.

They are also asking everyone to sign up for Identity theft protection, they have all the information in their system they should sign everyone Identified automatically. Just one more place with personal data at risk.

My credit reports have been frozen for more than 10 years, now thanks to Equifax I’m exposed additional threats.