security breech

[mare_wbpa]

Because of the huge data breech, there is a lot of advice telling everyone to go to the 3 credit reporting agencies and freeze your credit.
I'm nervous about going to  sites claiming to be these agencies. Are there sites that are definitely safe. I would think that I would have to divulge very sensitive information.

[winchester73]

Experian:  https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
Lexis Nexus:  https://consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/freeze
Equifax:  https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/
Innovis:  https://www.innovis.com/personal/securityFreeze
TransUnion:  https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze

Just make sure you understand what a freeze does, and what to do to temporarily remove it should you need to (for example to take out a loan).

[mare_wbpa]

I've been reading about the data breech and watching the news. I know that credit freeze has to be undone before applying for loans or credit cards. Definitely a pain, but better safe than sorry. I've recently been the almost victim of an attempt to compromise my checking account.
Thanks for the info.

[plodr]

You can call rather than doing it online.
Trans Union 800-916-8800
Equifax 888-298-0045
Experian 888-397-3742

[winchester73]

I've been reading about the data breech and watching the news. I know that credit freeze has to be undone before applying for loans or credit cards. Definitely a pain, but better safe than sorry. I've recently been the almost victim of an attempt to compromise my checking account.
Thanks for the info.

I froze everything several years ago, and have needed to temporarily un-freeze a total of 2 times.  It's not as cumbersome as it seems.

Opinion of one ... there seems to be a news item about a data breach weekly, freezing your files is a simple (and necessary) precaution against bad actors trying to impersonate you.

Good luck.

[mare_wbpa]

How difficult is it to unfreeze?

[winchester73]

It is simple to either temporarily lift or permanently remove, you can even specify how long the temporary unfreeze is to last ... some bureaus use a username/password that you create your account with, some generate a PIN to use whenever necessary ... there are online, phone and mail options for you to use.   As long as you have that info handy, you have nothing to worry about.

For example, here is the Equifax info:  https://www.equifax.com/personal/help/article-list/-/h/a/place-lift-remove-security-freeze/

A temporary lift allows creditors to access your credit report within a specific date range, which is determined by you. This is a simple "set and forget" process, once the temporary lift expires, the credit freeze is reinstituted without your having to do a thing.

Remember that each credit bureau is a separate transaction, so you can unfreeze only the bureau that the lender uses (they will tell you which one), you don't have to unfreeze all of them.

[Pete!]

When I was in the process of "cutting the cord" on cable internet, T-Mobile needed a credit check before signing me up for 5G Home Internet.

I used the process described above by winchester73. It only took a few minutes, and the freeze was automatically restored after the time I specified.

[ky331]

The following was copied/pasted from:
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/social-security-number-included-last-152053890.html

How can I find out if my Social Security number was part of the breach?

Pentester, a cybersecurity firm, has set up a tool to let you see if your data was part of the breach. Use a web browser to navigate to npd.pentester.com and enter your first and last name and birth year. You'll see a list of breached accounts, including the last four digits of the leaked Social Security numbers.

[mare_wbpa]

I froze my credit on all 3 credit bureaus by phone. None of them required me to set up an account or create a pin.

[winchester73]

I froze my credit on all 3 credit bureaus by phone. None of them required me to set up an account or create a pin.

Did they explain to you how to temporarily unfreeze your file?

[mare_wbpa]

I got no explanation from any of them. It was wham, bam, thank you mam.

[pastywhitegurl]

Never heard of LexusNexus or Innovis.  I have had my Experian, Transunion, and Equifax frozen for a long time.   How necessary is it to add these other two?

[winchester73]

It doesn't take much effort ... "necessary" is rather subjective.