In California at least you can "security freeze" your credit reports so no one can apply for credit in your name. You have to temporarily "unfreeze" them (with

In California at least you can "security freeze" your credit reports so no one can apply for credit in your name. You have to temporarily "unfreeze" them (with a pin code) for someone to get a report. I was a victim of identity theft many years ago (from an employee in my company no less), and while I didn't loose any money, it was a huge hassle to straighten it out. If you don't regularly need services that require a credit report freezing them is much simpler than monitoring the credit agency. I did this many years ago and it really is a lot simpler solution in my opinion than constant monitoring. Incidentally when I was an identity theft victim they didn't remove the incorrect information, they just said the fraudulent credit cards were "never late" and thus would not affect my score. I thought that was lame. https://oag.ca.gov/idtheft/facts/freeze-your-credit https://oag.ca.gov/idtheft/facts/freeze-your-credit