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Does anyone know what I can do as an US citizen abroad to protect myself now? I tried to get a free copy of my credit report but it required a us address to pro

Does anyone know what I can do as an US citizen abroad to protect myself now? I tried to get a free copy of my credit report but it required a us address to process. I tried to set up an account to freeze my credit but those require a us address as well.

dredmorbius 9y ago
Read TFA.
- seanalltogether 9y ago
  TFA says to order a free credit report or put freezes on your accounts, which as I just mentioned require usa addresses.
  - dredmorbius 9y ago
    Write letters. Explain your situation. Make not fixing your problem a bigger problem than fixing your problem. Do so credibly. That's the meta-message of TFA.
- dang 9y ago
  Would you please not break the site guidelines like this? If established users set such a bad example I don't see what hope there is for new ones.
  - dredmorbius 9y ago
    Fair enough and I attempted correcting that in a second follow-up.
tombrossman 9y ago
No idea, but I asked the same thing on the expats Stack Exchange site earlier today[0]. No responses yet, maybe we have to wait until Monday and call them? You might also contact the US Embassy in your country and ask. I had a similar problem with signing up for an online "my Social Security" account, and learned that it is impossible. The US Embassy in London wrote back: "You must have a U.S. mailing address in order to create a my Social Security account and cannot open an account without one." Having a credit record in the USA is no longer important as I do not plan to return, but you would think the credit reporting agencies should have some way of telling them "I'm long gone, if you see a credit application from the USA it's definitely fraudulent". Can't be done I guess. [0]https://expatriates.stackexchange.com/questions/12104/how-can-us-citizens-living-overseas-freeze-their-credit https://expatriates.stackexchange.com/questions/12104/how-ca...
- seanalltogether 9y ago
  Thanks I'll keep my eye on that question. Like you I probably won't care about my credit back home for the next decade or so but I don't know if I'll move back in the future.
flipbrad 9y ago
Depends where you are. If in the EU, for example, you have some pretty strong rights to access personal data held about you, correct it, or even block its further use. They apply to data all over the world, provided it's processed by a company that has an "establishment" (e.g. subsidiary) in the EU, and the data use is somehow related to that establishment's activities. From May next year, when the new GDOR kicks in, the geographic link will be even easier to establish: businesses are caught the moment they monitor people in the EU. Check out the website of your local data protection authority for details.
lawnchair_larry 9y ago
There's nothing you can be or need to be "protected" from, especially abroad, so don't waste any time on it. Don't freeze your credit over this.

dredmorbius 9y ago

Read TFA.

seanalltogether 9y ago
TFA says to order a free credit report or put freezes on your accounts, which as I just mentioned require usa addresses.
- dredmorbius 9y ago
  Write letters. Explain your situation. Make not fixing your problem a bigger problem than fixing your problem. Do so credibly. That's the meta-message of TFA.
dang 9y ago
Would you please not break the site guidelines like this? If established users set such a bad example I don't see what hope there is for new ones.
- dredmorbius 9y ago
  Fair enough and I attempted correcting that in a second follow-up.

tombrossman 9y ago

No idea, but I asked the same thing on the expats Stack Exchange site earlier today[0]. No responses yet, maybe we have to wait until Monday and call them? You might also contact the US Embassy in your country and ask. I had a similar problem with signing up for an online "my Social Security" account, and learned that it is impossible. The US Embassy in London wrote back: "You must have a U.S. mailing address in order to create a my Social Security account and cannot open an account without one." Having a credit record in the USA is no longer important as I do not plan to return, but you would think the credit reporting agencies should have some way of telling them "I'm long gone, if you see a credit application from the USA it's definitely fraudulent". Can't be done I guess. [0]https://expatriates.stackexchange.com/questions/12104/how-can-us-citizens-living-overseas-freeze-their-credit https://expatriates.stackexchange.com/questions/12104/how-ca...

seanalltogether 9y ago
Thanks I'll keep my eye on that question. Like you I probably won't care about my credit back home for the next decade or so but I don't know if I'll move back in the future.

flipbrad 9y ago

Depends where you are. If in the EU, for example, you have some pretty strong rights to access personal data held about you, correct it, or even block its further use. They apply to data all over the world, provided it's processed by a company that has an "establishment" (e.g. subsidiary) in the EU, and the data use is somehow related to that establishment's activities. From May next year, when the new GDOR kicks in, the geographic link will be even easier to establish: businesses are caught the moment they monitor people in the EU. Check out the website of your local data protection authority for details.

lawnchair_larry 9y ago

There's nothing you can be or need to be "protected" from, especially abroad, so don't waste any time on it. Don't freeze your credit over this.