Credit Records on Security Lockdown
I am really getting sick of hearing about these security breaches where personal information is stolen, like at Target not too long ago. This recent incident though is too much. The United States Office of Personnel Management was hacked into and 21.5 million records from government contractors were stolen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Personnel_Management_data_breach
I do my part to keep my personal information secure (not disclosing my info, using a shredder, etc.), but apparently, that is not enough these days.
So far, I've not been a victim of identity theft, and have verified that myself by going over my credit reports from Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. I was considering signing up for one of those credit monitoring services, but doing some research, I learned that they are not that useful. They will alert you if there's been unauthorized openings of credit cards and bank accounts in your name, but they can do next to nothing to prevent that. While they are helpful in guiding you through the necessary hoops to clean up your credit record and regain your identity, I'd rather avoid going through that in the first place.
Doing a bit of further reading, I learned that there is a very effective way to protect myself: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs#offers
As of today, I contacted the above credit agencies as well as Innovis and initiated a Credit Freeze. So now, even if my identity is stolen, they will not be able to do much with it. They will not be able to open any accounts, take out any loans, or get credit cards with my name and social security number because any of the institutions that they apply to will not be able to get my credit rating and therefore will not open said fraudulent accounts.
The only way to open any sort of account would be to temporarily unfreeze my credit, and I alone have the required PIN to do so.
I do my part to keep my personal information secure (not disclosing my info, using a shredder, etc.), but apparently, that is not enough these days.
So far, I've not been a victim of identity theft, and have verified that myself by going over my credit reports from Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. I was considering signing up for one of those credit monitoring services, but doing some research, I learned that they are not that useful. They will alert you if there's been unauthorized openings of credit cards and bank accounts in your name, but they can do next to nothing to prevent that. While they are helpful in guiding you through the necessary hoops to clean up your credit record and regain your identity, I'd rather avoid going through that in the first place.
Doing a bit of further reading, I learned that there is a very effective way to protect myself: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs#offers
As of today, I contacted the above credit agencies as well as Innovis and initiated a Credit Freeze. So now, even if my identity is stolen, they will not be able to do much with it. They will not be able to open any accounts, take out any loans, or get credit cards with my name and social security number because any of the institutions that they apply to will not be able to get my credit rating and therefore will not open said fraudulent accounts.
The only way to open any sort of account would be to temporarily unfreeze my credit, and I alone have the required PIN to do so.