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February 02, 2008
Freeze Identity Thieves in Their Tracks
I have mentioned to you several times already that identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the country and you must at all times remain vigilant over your personal information.
I have been recommending using LifeLock to give you piece of mind however if you don’t want to pay the very small fee LifeLock charges to protect your good name then you must get busy and start implementing your self-directed identity theft protection.
Here is one way to protect your identity:
To begin, you must know that the 3 major credit bureaus all have all your personal financial information so you should consider putting a freeze on credit reports as a precaution to ensure that people that should not be viewing your credit history and information are not able to get information about your bank accounts, loans, leases and other sensitive financial information.
Your credit reports contain enough information that an identity thief could get enough information about you to steal your identity and ruin your life
Identity thieves who get enough personally identifying information about you such as when you were born, your address or your SSN can take that information and apply for lines of credit in your name.
By placing a freeze on your credit reports it will avert any attempts for identity thieves to gain access to your credit information and should the would-be thief get enough information about you, when they try to apply for a credit card or loan their efforts will be in vain because the lending company will not grant the line of credit if they can’t view the credit file at the bureaus. In order to grant access to anybody that wants to run a credit check on you would need your permission first.
To place a freeze on your credit reports send each of the major credit bureaus a letter indicating that you would like to have your credit reports frozen. Here are the addresses of the credit bureaus.
Equifax Security Freeze
P.O. Box 105788
Atlanta, Ga. 30348
• Send request by certified mail.
• Include full name, current and previous addresses for past two years, proof of current address (such as a utility bill), Social Security number and date of birth.
Experian
P.O. Box 9554
Allen, Texas 75013
• Send request by certified or overnight mail.
• Include full name with middle initial
• Include current address and previous addresses for past two years, Social Security number, birth date and two proofs of residence (government-issued ID such as a driver's license and a recent utility bill, insurance statement or bank statement).
TransUnion
Fraud Victim Assistance Department
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, Calif. 92834
• Send request by certified or overnight mail.
• Include full name with middle initial and Jr./Sr., etc.
• Include current address and previous addresses for past two years, Social Security number and birth date.
For non-victims, there is typically a fee of $5 to $20 to enact a freeze, as well as a fee to temporarily lift or permanently remove it. The best way to find the information for your state is to go to the Consumers Union Website .
I think you will find this task to be a bit overwhelming and isn’t necessarily fool proof so do take further action and sign-up for the identity theft prevention that LifeLock offers. It doesn’t cost much and will virtually eliminate the threat.
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