5 ms·

Just 90 days? I'd rather freeze my credit. I already bought a house and a car. I'm done with needing credit for the foreseeable future. Freezing all 4 accounts

by pkulak 9y ago

Just 90 days? I'd rather freeze my credit. I already bought a house and a car. I'm done with needing credit for the foreseeable future. Freezing all 4 accounts (including Innovis, which actually seems like the most competent of the bunch) is the ticket for me. https://www.experian.com/ncaconline/freeze https://www.experian.com/ncaconline/freeze https://www.freeze.equifax.com/Freeze/jsp/SFF_PersonalIDInfo.jsp https://www.freeze.equifax.com/Freeze/jsp/SFF_PersonalIDInfo... https://freeze.transunion.com/sf/securityFreeze/landingPage.jsp https://freeze.transunion.com/sf/securityFreeze/landingPage.... https://www.innovis.com/securityFreeze/index https://www.innovis.com/securityFreeze/index

vlunkr 9y ago
They did say "if nothing else". Implying that you should do more. I got the 90 alert, it takes literally 2 minutes so it's a great first step.
- rrauenza 9y ago
  Now we just need a service like letsencrypt and a cron job that just resubmits that form every 60 days.
  - tonyztan 9y ago
    That would be an interesting idea... Except then the service provider would essentially have a database of names, SSNs, and addresses... I think we all know what could happen next. :(
sean2 9y ago
This is great advice and appears to be a good thing to do, but I just feel weird giving equifax money to protect me from fallout of their data breach. It feels like I'm rewarding them for losing my data. I bet millions of Americans, who are suddenly aware of their vulnerability to credit fraud and learning about these options, are paying for requests and freezes.
- njarboe 9y ago
  Yup. P/E of Equifax way up next quarter.
- mildavw 9y ago
  Yeah, it bugs me too. What about letting "natural consequences" befall Equifax (or rather its customers)? I take no action now. Scammer gets a $10k loan from BigBank using my info. I get the bill and report it as fraud. Write a few letters to clear it up (http://www.kalzumeus.com/2017/09/09/identity-theft-credit-reports/ http://www.kalzumeus.com/2017/09/09/identity-theft-credit-re...). BigBank will be out $10k and is now motivated to figure out a better way to make loans.
  - PaulHoule 9y ago
    Maybe that big bank should decide not to get credit reports from Equifax and not to send them data. It would be a way to show that self-regulation works before the government forces their hand.
- cr0sh 9y ago
  It didn't cost me anything to do a freeze with equifax; but I have heard of others paying. I am wondering if they only do it for free on those affected by the "hack"? For the others, I had to pay - Transunion and Experian - $5.00 each; ChexSystems and Innovis were free also.
- cag_ii 9y ago
  I believe Equifax dropped the credit freeze charge due to the backlash [0]. The other reporting agencies may still charge however. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/your-money/equifax-fee-waiver.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/your-money/equifax-fee-wa...
scrumper 9y ago
Experian link just provides a grey page saying "Loading" Equifax link is dated 2008 and hijacks the back button (wtf) TU is an account creation page I've never heard of Innovis :) Which is not snark at you for posting these links, just a sad commentary on these important pages.
- Haul4ss 9y ago
  Innovis is usually an intermediary for financial institutions to check all three of your reports. If you've ever seen a hard check on your credit report from CBCINNOVIS, it's them. They're not one of the "big three", they're sort of a 0.5. The other sites are practically being DDoS'd by people trying to freeze their credit. Glad I did mine before it became a fad. :)
  - scrumper 9y ago
    Ah thanks. I haven't ever seen that. Curious whether there will be a measurable impact on new credit approvals as a result of this apparent mass freezing. Equifax's breach leading to second order effect of retail credit gumming up would piss off Equifax's actual clients in a big way.
js2 9y ago
For NC residents: http://www.ncdoj.gov/freefreeze http://www.ncdoj.gov/freefreeze
cr0sh 9y ago
There's also: https://www.chexsystems.com https://www.chexsystems.com

by pkulak 9y ago

vlunkr 9y ago

They did say "if nothing else". Implying that you should do more. I got the 90 alert, it takes literally 2 minutes so it's a great first step.

rrauenza 9y ago
Now we just need a service like letsencrypt and a cron job that just resubmits that form every 60 days.
- tonyztan 9y ago
  That would be an interesting idea... Except then the service provider would essentially have a database of names, SSNs, and addresses... I think we all know what could happen next. :(

sean2 9y ago

This is great advice and appears to be a good thing to do, but I just feel weird giving equifax money to protect me from fallout of their data breach. It feels like I'm rewarding them for losing my data. I bet millions of Americans, who are suddenly aware of their vulnerability to credit fraud and learning about these options, are paying for requests and freezes.

njarboe 9y ago
Yup. P/E of Equifax way up next quarter.
mildavw 9y ago
Yeah, it bugs me too. What about letting "natural consequences" befall Equifax (or rather its customers)? I take no action now. Scammer gets a $10k loan from BigBank using my info. I get the bill and report it as fraud. Write a few letters to clear it up (http://www.kalzumeus.com/2017/09/09/identity-theft-credit-reports/ http://www.kalzumeus.com/2017/09/09/identity-theft-credit-re...). BigBank will be out $10k and is now motivated to figure out a better way to make loans.
- PaulHoule 9y ago
  Maybe that big bank should decide not to get credit reports from Equifax and not to send them data. It would be a way to show that self-regulation works before the government forces their hand.
cr0sh 9y ago
It didn't cost me anything to do a freeze with equifax; but I have heard of others paying. I am wondering if they only do it for free on those affected by the "hack"? For the others, I had to pay - Transunion and Experian - $5.00 each; ChexSystems and Innovis were free also.
cag_ii 9y ago
I believe Equifax dropped the credit freeze charge due to the backlash [0]. The other reporting agencies may still charge however. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/your-money/equifax-fee-waiver.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/your-money/equifax-fee-wa...

scrumper 9y ago

Experian link just provides a grey page saying "Loading" Equifax link is dated 2008 and hijacks the back button (wtf) TU is an account creation page I've never heard of Innovis :) Which is not snark at you for posting these links, just a sad commentary on these important pages.

Haul4ss 9y ago
Innovis is usually an intermediary for financial institutions to check all three of your reports. If you've ever seen a hard check on your credit report from CBCINNOVIS, it's them. They're not one of the "big three", they're sort of a 0.5. The other sites are practically being DDoS'd by people trying to freeze their credit. Glad I did mine before it became a fad. :)
- scrumper 9y ago
  Ah thanks. I haven't ever seen that. Curious whether there will be a measurable impact on new credit approvals as a result of this apparent mass freezing. Equifax's breach leading to second order effect of retail credit gumming up would piss off Equifax's actual clients in a big way.

js2 9y ago

For NC residents: http://www.ncdoj.gov/freefreeze http://www.ncdoj.gov/freefreeze

cr0sh 9y ago

There's also: https://www.chexsystems.com https://www.chexsystems.com