With all the hacks of fed and vet data going on, how many have or are considering some sort of credit monitoring as a precaution?

Good or bad experiences anyone can share on this subject?

 

How exactly does the unfreeze work if you decide you want to finance something? Do you have to first ask which credit agency they use and unfreeze that particular one? I can remember a situation where I asked an auto dealer which credit agency they used to run my credit when co signing on a car for my daughter. They could give me my credit score and results, but couldn't tell me which agency they used.

 

They will typically call you to confirm you is who you is and now days, the seller has to provide you with the credit information that they pulled...in toto.

 

My wife received a years worth free after the Target store breech. She has since renewed on our dime. I'm skeptical of the value and wondering how many of us get sucked into the auto-renewal vortex.

 

I subscribe to Experian...mainly because it has a pretty big data center here and I watch it very closely. I am proud to say that my FICO vacillates each month between 838 and 850. Currently at 850.

It changes due to credit card usage. I pay for most things via credit card and pay off the card(s) each month. Some months show big purchase gains and that will knock me down a few points. My wife does the same and enjoys a high rating as well. When she leased her current car the sales guy said he had never seen a credit score as high as hers.

Interesting thing about credit scoring. They do not concern themselves with your earnings. Just how you manage your credit. It is up to the lender to determine if you can handle the debt to income ratio. Your FICO score is partly dependent on your available credit to actual debt ratio....then of course late pays. DAMN those smack you down pretty hard.

It dropped over 20 points at a pop last year when I bought the Polaris Ranger 800. I put 50% down and financed the balance to take advantage of an extended warranty if you financed. So, I got a 1.09% rate for 36 months and paid it off in 6 months with extended warranty in hand...

 

I'm a member of Lifelock. I have the whole family covered. A few months ago, I requested a new card from my bank, and Lifelock informed me that someone was looking into my credit information about a new card. They told me who it was, and I said that it was OK. The next day, they informed me someone was trying to open a credit card account using my daughters name. That was put to a halt immediately! My 9 year old does not need a credit card!

 

Chris, I'm guessing the thing to do is to 'freeze' your credit when you KNOW you are not going to be applying for loans, etc.

Of course your hand might be forced if, say, you were definitely a victim of a data breach/hack........or your car or home was burglarized and your ID and SS card were stolen or something. I'd definitely do a 'freeze' right away then. I'd say 1 year would do it. They'd be trying to suck off your identity and credit pretty quickly.

Not sure if it works for stuff like cars, but don't some financial companies 'create' a credit score for you based on your monthly bill paying? Like utilities, power, cell phone, etc.? I think I heard Dave Ramsay mention this (Churchill Mortgage?). Maybe others do it for 'large' purchases. And I'm not sure how a credit freeze would affect that anyway.

 

I HAVE NO Credit cards, it will be 2016 before the chapter seven I filed in '09 drops off my record - so until then I doubt I have any issues.

I still get Credit Card offers, but having tested one of them (Amazon) they returned a negative, stating that I had a bankruptcy on my history. So that much is good. Next year I'll take this up for another look, it's good info and protection.

HOWEVER:
I DO monitor my bank account online, and do a lot of online purchases. Last month or so I saw where some really (and I mean REALLY) strange purchases were on my account, and I instantly reported them to my bank (B of A)

1) They/We FROZE the debit card and account. *Take note that this was done ON A WEEKEND
2) B of A launched an investigation
3) An investigation report arrived inside of ten days, which I filled out and mailed back.
4) A new card was issued. That took 5 to 7 "business days", eh... I still had a few checks, and ordered some new ones
*Been so long since I wrote a check, I forgot how to spell my name
5) The amounts fraudulently charged to my account were reversed - "credited back" - pending the result of the investigation.
* The missing cash was available within hours
6) On the conclusion of the investigation the amounts "Temporarily Credited Back" (refunded) were made permanent by B of A.

I was fortunate in that I caught the activity quickly, I never go to a store to use the card for a significant purchase without checking my funds first. I often look at the account for tracking and monitoring reasons anyway, even if nothing should have changed. I like to know if certain "AUTO-PAY" bills have cleared, and when. They can sometimes SNAFU and I am alert to any problems if I consider other agencies as subject to Murphies laws as I am.

The attempt happened on a Friday, I looked at my account on the Saturday evening and saw a serious deficit. WTF?

There was a toll free number attached to the charges on the statement, so I called it and asked: "Who the hell are you people?"
To their credit (no pun intended) they worked with me TO A POINT

By "To a Point" what I mean is that they checked with me as far as the card info, the billing address, and the shipping address.
They told me that the card info was correct, but the E-Mail attached was way off, and the shipping address was to another state.
And then they clammed up because they said there were "LEGAL ISSUES", they wouldn't give me the address the products were shipped to.

They DID however mark the account that they showed as "FRAUDULENT" based on the info I gave them.


POINTS of INTEREST:
The card never leaves my control. It is in my house, or on my person. There is only one card. The only time info from the card goes anywhere else is when I make a purchase online. Presumably one of the places I bought something from either IS disreputable, or has a disreputable employee (I hope B of A caught the bugger!)

Normally, unless what I am looking for is not available at AMAZON, I don't go to other sources.
There is a short list of reliable suppliers that I go to for hardware and other items. I recently had to track down some stainless grade two fasteners, for example.

The reason for that is because AMAZON is excellent at tracking and record keeping of all transactions, and is active in resolving any and all conflicts. Fraud at AMAZON is a big deal, they know that, and are relentless at making it a fair and most of all SECURE marketplace.

 

So what about the 4th credit bureau as it's sometimes called? Do you have that one frozen too Ken?

The effectiveness of lifelock or similar is up for discussion in this situation.

 

Lifelock is a way to protect you from identity theft. For me it costs $360.00 a year and that covers me, my wife and 2 kids. They have stopped one attempt when someone tried to use my daughters name to open an account. They also send warnings when known child molesters/rapists move into the area. You can actually look up what they were charged with, their sentence, etc.

 

Thanks for that info Ken, I will take advantage of it!