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I'd recommend just actively monitoring your credit before going overboard and freezing it. There's a bunch of different free credit report apps that will send y

I'd recommend just actively monitoring your credit before going overboard and freezing it. There's a bunch of different free credit report apps that will send you push notifications the moment anything changes, and things like credit pulls show up almost instantly now. I get notified immediately if anything changes on my report via text, email, and push.

rpedela 8y ago
Freezing it is relatively easy and you don't have to spend time monitoring. Monitoring also doesn't really prevent identify theft. In other words, better safe than sorry.
- pbreit 8y ago
  Monitoring is totally passive. "better safe than sorry" is a stifling maxim to live by.
  - rpedela 8y ago
    I hope you are never sorry.
  - sgc 8y ago
    At the other extreme, YOLO is a stupid one. People buy insurance all the time. I bet you have some yourself. It seems odd to fight against such a simple thing as a credit freeze, and perhaps it is not as onerous to others as it appears to be to you.
fpgaminer 8y ago
The problem is, once something gets on your credit report, it can often be a hassle to get it off. And the onus is completely on you to do so. You end up playing phone tag, potentially for years, with the firm that opened the fraudulent account, as well as all the reporting agencies. So personally I feel it better to prevent the whole thing to begin with. Also I'm not familiar with those free credit monitoring apps, but it seems like in all likelihood a "free" credit monitoring app is going to sell your data...
drfuchs 8y ago
Better to freeze. Credit monitoring just gives you quicker notification that you've already entered a huge world of hurt. The fraudster has successfully struck, and now you have to go to work to undo the damage, which can be a years-long nightmare. ("Well, it shows here that you bought a truck and stopped paying. Not you, you say? Prove it! Oh, and until you do, don't expect to have good credit. Maybe never, actually.")
- reaperducer 8y ago
  Credit monitoring just gives you quicker notification Define "quicker." I got the credit monitoring from Exerpan after its data breach. Since then, I've had my credit run twice. Both times were initiated by me, so I know when it happened. Both times, I received a notification by e-mail SEVEN DAYS later, followed by a text message a day after that. Seven days is plenty long enough to destroy someone's finances.
- cesarb 8y ago
  > Well, it shows here that you bought a truck and stopped paying. Not you, you say? Prove it! Shouldn't the burden of proof be on them to show that you bought the truck? If their negligence actually prevented you from obtaining credit, shouldn't it be easy to get damages in small claims court?
dopamean 8y ago
How is freezing your credit "going overboard?"

rpedela 8y ago

Freezing it is relatively easy and you don't have to spend time monitoring. Monitoring also doesn't really prevent identify theft. In other words, better safe than sorry.

pbreit 8y ago
Monitoring is totally passive. "better safe than sorry" is a stifling maxim to live by.
- rpedela 8y ago
  I hope you are never sorry.
- sgc 8y ago
  At the other extreme, YOLO is a stupid one. People buy insurance all the time. I bet you have some yourself. It seems odd to fight against such a simple thing as a credit freeze, and perhaps it is not as onerous to others as it appears to be to you.

fpgaminer 8y ago

The problem is, once something gets on your credit report, it can often be a hassle to get it off. And the onus is completely on you to do so. You end up playing phone tag, potentially for years, with the firm that opened the fraudulent account, as well as all the reporting agencies. So personally I feel it better to prevent the whole thing to begin with. Also I'm not familiar with those free credit monitoring apps, but it seems like in all likelihood a "free" credit monitoring app is going to sell your data...

drfuchs 8y ago

Better to freeze. Credit monitoring just gives you quicker notification that you've already entered a huge world of hurt. The fraudster has successfully struck, and now you have to go to work to undo the damage, which can be a years-long nightmare. ("Well, it shows here that you bought a truck and stopped paying. Not you, you say? Prove it! Oh, and until you do, don't expect to have good credit. Maybe never, actually.")

reaperducer 8y ago
Credit monitoring just gives you quicker notification Define "quicker." I got the credit monitoring from Exerpan after its data breach. Since then, I've had my credit run twice. Both times were initiated by me, so I know when it happened. Both times, I received a notification by e-mail SEVEN DAYS later, followed by a text message a day after that. Seven days is plenty long enough to destroy someone's finances.
cesarb 8y ago
> Well, it shows here that you bought a truck and stopped paying. Not you, you say? Prove it! Shouldn't the burden of proof be on them to show that you bought the truck? If their negligence actually prevented you from obtaining credit, shouldn't it be easy to get damages in small claims court?

dopamean 8y ago

How is freezing your credit "going overboard?"