topic Re: Security Freeze in General Credit Topics

Security Freeze

911gt34life — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 17:03:25 GMT

i am wondering how many you guys don't have security freeze on your report not sure if leave open or close

Re: Security Freeze

Horseshoez — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 17:10:59 GMT

@911gt34life wrote:
i am wondering how many you guys don't have security freeze on your report not sure if leave open or close

I keep mine frozen and then schedule a temporary thaw whenever I want to apply for something. I've only needed to do the thaw thing three times now and it has worked perfectly for each application.

With the above said, the "Law of Unintended Consequences" might apply here; if you want lots of unsolicited credit offers in the mail, I've found once my accounts have been frozen, the offers in my mailbox drops to zero.

Re: Security Freeze

House1204 — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 17:11:15 GMT

I had a freeze on my reports for a long time but I have them unfrozen now. I have various credit monitoring services so I am not too worried about fraud happening without me knowing about it.

Re: Security Freeze

NoMoreE46 — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 17:30:08 GMT

My three majors are frozen.

Re: Security Freeze

Gunnerboy — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 18:01:22 GMT

Always frozen for me. A little bit of peace of mind.

Re: Security Freeze

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 20:38:47 GMT

I've been involved in 3-4 massive data breaches so mine are locked. I have free monitoring and repair thanks to the breaches, but I'd rather not deal with it. Especially since the forecast for defaulting isn't very good. Don't need AA from a lender for something I didn't do. Cause in the end, they're not gonna reopen the card even if you prove it wasn't you.

Re: Security Freeze

markbeiser — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 19:43:09 GMT

I keep all 3 frozen, it makes me have to think about it more if I have the itch to app for something.
Also, the massive reduction in junk mail is nice.

Re: Security Freeze

Bill77 — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 20:36:38 GMT

All 3 are frozen unless I'm open to targeted deals and getting marketing at that point in time. Right now I have EX frozen, but the other two are open. I don't want any new cards that pull from EX but might be tempted otherwise.

Re: Security Freeze

BobbyInCO — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 21:00:42 GMT

Frozen for sure. I've had family members apply in my name/ssn and it sucks. Granted, lots of the monitoring will tell you when an account is opened or an inquiry made, but not all of them are real-time, so it can be very hard to unwind a bad actor.

As mentioned by others, with them all frozen you won't get much by way of prequal/pre-app offers. But for me personally that's OK because I have the right accounts now for my personal situation. If I started to stutter on that, I may unfreeze to see what might happen, but if I do need to appy I can always temp unfreeze.

Re: Security Freeze

NoMoreDebt — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 21:14:02 GMT

Mine aren't frozen anymore. I just keep close tabs on them with the monitoring that's available. My consumer reports are however still frozen

Re: Security Freeze

FireMedic1 — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 22:11:14 GMT

Simple. Do you lock your doors at night? Its free and easy to thaw for set periods of time. Frozen.

Re: Security Freeze

FinStar — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 00:31:50 GMT

@911gt34life wrote:
i am wondering how many you guys don't have security freeze on your report not sure if leave open or close

None of mine are (nor have been) frozen, including third party agencies. I periodically monitor things across all of them. Personal preference 😎

Re: Security Freeze

FinStar — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 00:37:41 GMT

@FireMedic1 wrote:
Simple. Do you lock your doors at night? Its free and easy to thaw for set periods of time. Frozen.

Simple depends on the individual. Not everyone locks their doors at night and it depends where one lives. Everyone can make their own informed choices and preferences.

Re: Security Freeze

FireMedic1 — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 10:41:55 GMT

@FinStar wrote:
@FireMedic1 wrote:
Simple. Do you lock your doors at night? Its free and easy to thaw for set periods of time. Frozen.
Simple depends on the individual. Not everyone locks their doors at night and it depends where one lives. Everyone can make their own informed choices and preferences.

@FinStarBig city dude here. Home invasions not uncommon. Guess some parts dont lock doors. No reason too. Sorry. Went by if its not locked (frozen) looking for trouble. Heck cant even leave a unattended garage door open. They run up the driveway and help themselves.

Re: Security Freeze

FinStar — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 11:10:28 GMT

@FireMedic1 wrote:
@FinStar wrote:
@FireMedic1 wrote:
Simple. Do you lock your doors at night? Its free and easy to thaw for set periods of time. Frozen.
Simple depends on the individual. Not everyone locks their doors at night and it depends where one lives. Everyone can make their own informed choices and preferences.
@FinStarBig city dude here. Home invasions not uncommon. Guess some parts dont lock doors. No reason too. Sorry. Went by if its not locked (frozen) looking for trouble. Heck cant even leave a unattended garage door open. They run up the driveway and help themselves.

@FireMedic1 - I've lived in large metropolitan cities, here and abroad including the countryside.

Bottom line, to the OPs question, some people can freeze them, others do not. It is a matter of personal preference and a choice. It isn't a requirement to do so since millions of consumers do not freeze their reports. As we say around these parts, you do you. Obviously, for individuals who have experienced the unfortunate ugly side of compromised instances of a breach, ID theft or others who want to take extra precautions it's perfectly understandable just as those individuals who prefer their reports unfrozen for their own reasons.

Re: Security Freeze

mgood — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 00:15:51 GMT

Mine are not currently frozen. I had them frozen for some time but thawed them in preparation for an application. Now that that's done, I'll probably go back and freeze them again, maybe this week.

If nothing else, it's an extra hurdle I have to get over to apply for something. Gives me a little extra time to think about whether I want to take that HP to apply for this card or stay in the garden a little longer. Also for those CLI requests that can't promise if it will be a HP or SP, if they're frozen I can tell them to go right ahead.