topic is freezing Transunion, Experian, and Equifax good enough? in General Credit Topics

is freezing Transunion, Experian, and Equifax good enough?

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxy — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 22:40:31 GMT

I came across a thread on reddit and there are freezes for chexsystems, lexisnexis, EWS, innovis, ARS, NCTUE, Work Number and a few more. Will freezing just the big three prevent like 80% of identity theft attempts? Because it seems like a lot of work to try to freeze all those aforementioned. Thanks again!

Re: is freezing Transunion, Experian, and Equifax good enough?

coldfusion — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 23:11:46 GMT

Short answer IMO is yes, if the goal is to try to make it harder for others to fraudulently obtain credit in your name.

Chexsystems and EWS are more relevant for deposit accounts (where are they, do you have a history of bouncing checks or applying for a lot of checking accounts, etc) which for example credit unions like to look at when evaluating applications for membership. Work Number and its competitors could be for any of a wide swath of reasons but their reporting focuses on employment history including job titles and income. Lexis Nexis is a bit of an outlier as the parent company provides general synopses of personal data (SSN, employer, past and current residences and phone numbers, current and past mortgage information, etc. etc.) and also credit reporting information through their SageStream business unit which they acquired a few years ago.

Re: is freezing Transunion, Experian, and Equifax good enough?

Yawgoog — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 00:19:25 GMT

EWS doesn't offer freezing.

Re: is freezing Transunion, Experian, and Equifax good enough?

NoMoreDebt — Sat, 24 Aug 2024 13:59:49 GMT

We have all 3 bureaus frozen and also added a initial fraud alert on them. Adds a small hassle if you app for a card or want to open a new account as you have to unfreeze them, even then you will get an initial decline message or error and have to physically go into a branch or call in depending on what you are trying to open because of the fraud alert. Small price to pay in these times to safe guard your credit.

Re: is freezing Transunion, Experian, and Equifax good enough?

Gunnerboy — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 20:04:43 GMT

Freezing reports doesn't prevent identity theft per se, but will prevent thieves from opening new accounts in your name.

Why does it seem like a lot of work to freeze your accounts? You create accounts with each bureau by verifying your identity/SSN. Placing or lifting a freeze takes just seconds.

I keep mine frozen. I would keep my children's frozen.

Re: is freezing Transunion, Experian, and Equifax good enough?

Thomas_Thumb — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 21:01:21 GMT

Agreed, my identity is already spread worldwide and available on the dark web. Freeze all CRAs including Innovis to prevent new credit account openings. Freeze ChexSystems to inhibit bank account openings in your name.

If your ship has not sailed on identity theft, consider freezing/locking LexisNexis.

Re: is freezing Transunion, Experian, and Equifax good enough?

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxy — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 08:10:19 GMT

thank you for the responses, everyone!

For ChexSystems, how long does it take to freeze/unfreeze in your experiences? I've read that it's a pain to not only set up an online account and use the PIN to freeze, but sometimes there are issues that prevent freezing/unfreezing for a few weeks until proper paperwork is sent into ChexSystems and whatnot. Have u guys experienced this firsthand?