topic Re: Lock credit report in General Credit Topics

Lock credit report

razzy116 — Thu, 13 May 2021 17:40:55 GMT

Is it good to lock the credit reports? Thank you and be safe.

Re: Lock credit report

dragontears — Thu, 13 May 2021 17:48:20 GMT

@razzy116 wrote:
Is it good to lock the credit reports? Thank you and be safe.

Depends, what is your definition of "good"?

Re: Lock credit report

AllZero — Thu, 13 May 2021 18:59:18 GMT

@CreditInspired wrote:
Freeze your credit with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion

Credit Bureau Online By phone By mail
Visit: Equifax Credit Freeze page 1-800-685-1111 (NY residents call 1-800-349-9960) Equifax Security Freeze, P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348
Visit: Experian Credit Freeze page 1-888-EXPERIAN (1-888-397-3742) Experian Security Freeze, P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013
Visit: TransUnion Credit Freeze page 1-888-909-8872 TransUnion LLC, P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19016

I found this on https://clark.com/credit/credit-freeze-and-thaw-guide/

Re: Lock credit report

razzy116 — Thu, 13 May 2021 23:55:08 GMT

I got an alert from MyFico that my information was on the black market, that"s why i was saying about freezeing my credit report.

Re: Lock credit report

razzy116 — Fri, 14 May 2021 01:58:17 GMT

I froze my credit report on MyFico, is that ok? Thank you.

Re: Lock credit report

Horseshoez — Fri, 14 May 2021 02:12:54 GMT

@razzy116 wrote:
I got an alert from MyFico that my information was on the black market, that"s why i was saying about freezeing my credit report.

I'd lay odds virtually all of us have some information available on the Dark Web, and I don't believe any amount of freezing credit reports will prevent that. That said, I do currently have all three reports frozen, a process of hitting the web sites of all three CBs and performing a freeze.

@razzy116 wrote:
I froze my credit report on MyFico, is that ok? Thank you.

As for freezing your reports on myFICO, quite honestly, I didn't even know that was possible.

Re: Lock credit report

razzy116 — Sat, 15 May 2021 01:44:48 GMT

I froze my credit reports do i still get updates on my scores on MyFico? Thank you and be safe.

Re: Lock credit report

Anonymous — Sun, 16 May 2021 13:08:08 GMT

@razzy116 wrote:
I froze my credit reports do i still get updates on my scores on MyFico? Thank you and be safe.

Yes.

Re: Lock credit report

designated_knitter — Sun, 16 May 2021 22:09:02 GMT

@Horseshoez wrote:
@razzy116 wrote:
I got an alert from MyFico that my information was on the black market, that"s why i was saying about freezeing my credit report.
I'd lay odds virtually all of us have some information available on the Dark Web, and I don't believe any amount of freezing credit reports will prevent that. That said, I do currently have all three reports frozen, a process of hitting the web sites of all three CBs and performing a freeze.

@razzy116 wrote:
I froze my credit report on MyFico, is that ok? Thank you.
As for freezing your reports on myFICO, quite honestly, I didn't even know that was possible.

I keep my reports frozen after I got an alert of an inquiry last year for a credit card that I didn't actually apply for. Someone else was trying to apply for credit using my SSN which is supposedly on the dark web.

So yes, I believe it is a good idea. It doesn't interfere with the ability to get my credit reports from my FICO, credit karma or any other monitoring service.

Re: Lock credit report

babygirl1256 — Mon, 17 May 2021 01:29:13 GMT

Locking the credit report may work for some but not for all . . . I haven't locked mine yet -and- I heard that sometimes it's difficult to unlock (but I haven't confirmed that). Once I confirm, I may lock my file when I go to the Garden in 6/2021.

Re: Lock credit report

Horseshoez — Mon, 17 May 2021 01:37:28 GMT

@babygirl1256 wrote:
Locking the credit report may work for some but not for all . . . I haven't locked mine yet -and- I heard that sometimes it's difficult to unlock (but I haven't confirmed that). Once I confirm, I may lock my file when I go to the Garden in 6/2021.

I've locked, unlocked, and relocked my reports any number of times over the last eight or nine months; never had an issue.

Re: Lock credit report

designated_knitter — Mon, 17 May 2021 01:46:16 GMT

@Horseshoez wrote:
@babygirl1256 wrote:
Locking the credit report may work for some but not for all . . . I haven't locked mine yet -and- I heard that sometimes it's difficult to unlock (but I haven't confirmed that). Once I confirm, I may lock my file when I go to the Garden in 6/2021.
I've locked, unlocked, and relocked my reports any number of times over the last eight or nine months; never had an issue.

Same here... takes less than 5 minutes. I've done it while I was on the phone with a credit card company applying in real time. I've also done it at a car dealership when shopping for cars so they could pull my credit.

Now *SOME* states may charge for placing a credit freeze. In my state, there is no charge and it is instantaneous.

Re: Lock credit report

babygirl1256 — Mon, 17 May 2021 01:57:31 GMT

Awesome . . . great to know . . . I will surely lock my files when I go to the Garden. I wish there was a way to stop the soft inquiries (i.e. Portfolio Recovery or any CA) especially if the adverse item purged from your credit file. I understand that the CA will still attempt to collect the debt; I just don't like the multiple weekly SP.

Re: Lock credit report

Remedios — Mon, 17 May 2021 02:25:15 GMT

They stop when they are paid.

Re: Lock credit report

Anonymous — Mon, 17 May 2021 04:05:25 GMT

@babygirl1256 wrote:
Awesome . . . great to know . . . I will surely lock my files when I go to the Garden. I wish there was a way to stop the soft inquiries (i.e. Portfolio Recovery or any CA) especially if the adverse item purged from your credit file. I understand that the CA will still attempt to collect the debt; I just don't like the multiple weekly SP.

SPs are blocked when they aren't for AR or collection activity, just FYI. It's a common misconception that a lock or freeze doesn't stop SPs. It does stop the majority of them and has been the cause of many SP CLI denials and SP checking/savings account denials.

It is important to know that things like this do happen with locks/freezes. For most people the risk of fraud outweighs the annoyance of dealing with it but it is a whole process if something goes wrong...

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/General-Credit-Topics/Equifax-stuck-frozen/td-p/6254379

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/General-Credit-Topics/Problems-removing-Equifax-freeze/td-p/5873133

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/General-Credit-Topics/Equifax-freeze-down-for-anyone-else/m-p/6296913/highlight/true#M310930

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/General-Credit-Topics/Equifax-REALLY-need-to-fix-the-issue-with-MyEquifax-website/td-p/6101161

Equifax isn't alone in having problems:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/General-Credit-Topics/What-s-up-with-Transunion-quot-credit-freeze-quot-website/td-p/5705692

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/General-Credit-Topics/TransUnion-Credit-Lock-Not-Working/td-p/5581438

Re: Lock credit report

babygirl1256 — Mon, 17 May 2021 04:42:31 GMT

@Anonymous Awesome information . . . thank you for always posting valuable information as it's certainly appreciated. I'll probably pass on the freeze for now.

Re: Lock credit report

Anonymous — Mon, 17 May 2021 04:55:24 GMT

@babygirl1256 wrote:
@Anonymous Awesome information . . . thank you for always posting valuable information as it's certainly appreciated. I'll probably pass on the freeze for now.

I wasn't trying to talk you out of them, just sharing the info. I choose to freeze my reports myself. I just make sure to put my lifts in a week or more before a planned app to make sure I can get it taken care of. The vast majority of the time, it works fine, but I have indeed had TU get delayed and EQ's system claim my file was unfrozen when it was not. I also had about 6 months where Experian refused to let me add a freeze. Still though, having my reports wrecked by fraud and all the work to deal with that vs system issues inconveniencing me? I'll take the system issues.

Re: Lock credit report

babygirl1256 — Mon, 17 May 2021 04:58:40 GMT

@Anonymous Thanks . . . I will certainly look into it more and weigh the options!!!

Re: Lock credit report

Creditin — Thu, 20 May 2021 16:02:19 GMT

I placed an initial fraud report with Experian out of rage.

I tried to get info from their subprime bureau, Clarity, 'cause it was reporting "undefined accounts".

Whatever that means. Which, at the end were not in the report they sent me by mail.

I called Experian, an all I got was recordings after recordings. For almost an hour.

When I pressed the # for fraud, and finished, they inmediately picked up the phone.

I had already placed the fraud alert, with my phone number. It's in the three bureaus now.

Which means that nobody can open a new account for a year, without calling me first.

Even if I fill an application, they have to call me. I very seldom answer my phone.

I had to freeze "manually" Sagestream, Lexis Nexis, which now are the same company,

and Innovis.

Peace of mind. And they can't send me junk mail with offers until August.

I'm thinking of placing another one when this one expires.

Cheers.

Re: Lock credit report

805orbust — Sat, 22 May 2021 02:26:12 GMT

I keep my reports frozen all the time. The process for thawing g with each bureau (except for EQ sometimes) is simple, and takes a minute. I still get MyFico info, CK, and soft pulls from my banks when I ask for CLI. Easy peasy. Plus I sleep at night. I've even tried a few time applying for cc'd and I always get denied (twice actually) for frozen report and of course, there's no record of it. 😉

Credit Bureau	Online	By phone	By mail
	Visit: Equifax Credit Freeze page	1-800-685-1111 (NY residents call 1-800-349-9960)	Equifax Security Freeze, P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348
	Visit: Experian Credit Freeze page	1-888-EXPERIAN (1-888-397-3742)	Experian Security Freeze, P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013
	Visit: TransUnion Credit Freeze page	1-888-909-8872	TransUnion LLC, P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19016