You're welcome 
You could also have a fraud alert placed if you/he doesn't want to freeze them
@dawnm72174 wrote:Daisy,
Sorry this happened to y'all. I don't know of any but I'd put all of his credit reports on ice.
Agreed. I feel that freezing your reports is, in general, a good practice - even if you haven't experienced fraud. It just completely saves a headache.
1. Sign up for a monitoring service that covers all 3 bureaus (I guess you could do it with a combination free services; just have to make sure you're covering all 3)
2. Freeze each bureau
I prefer to have my monitoring alerts under one roof, so to speak (e.g., myfico monitoring, I see a lot of people use credit check total). Figure out your monitoring solution first because it may require having your reports unlocked/unfrozen. I like myfico's option because it includes the identity surveilance stuff that could come in handy. I've actually gotten several alerts from it.
@Anonymous wrote:Thank you for all the input. We have filed an identity theft report, and we called Transunion to have the 90 day fraud alert put on at least until we decide what to do long term - freeze reports or do extended fraud alert. The identity theft report site said Transunion would be required to contact the other 2 companies to do the same.
Does this mean he needs to have all his reports frozen forever? That sounds so extreme. We are rebuilding and relying on some incremental credit limit increases on our accounts right now. I've seen people here mention having trouble with CLIs with frozen reports. Can we really rebuild his credit with his reports frozen? I know, of course, that it's more important to prevent further fraud.
My other big question is one Falere brought up. Can he keep using Credit Check Total with frozen reports?
Yes. It is quick and easy to unfreeze reports online. You just need to make sure you keep up with the pin provided at the time of freezing. In some rare cases, you cannot complete the unfreeze request online; you may be required to mail documents if there is an identity concern or something. Even if that happens, I cannot think of a situation when I couldn't wait a few days.
You would just need to unfreeze prior to applying for any hard pull credit requests (and know the bureau being pulled - or you could unfreeze all 3). Good thing is, you can set a date for the security freeze to go back active. So, if you're anticipating multiple applications for credit, you can leave them unlocked for longer. Synchrony is the only soft-pull CLI lender I've seen that will not process a soft CLI request with a security freeze active. Capital One, Discover, probably others process soft-pull requests fine. An additional benefit of security freezes is that you can prevent unintended, unauthorized hard pulls that are not necessarily fraud. I've heard countless stories of someone being told that a request is a soft-pull, only to find a shiny new inquiry (actually happened to me). Another great example is the process of car shopping with your own funding. People who want to pay for a car with cash or their own funding will still get hard pulled multiple times, even when explicitly requesting not to be pulled. Security freezes prevent fraud, yes, but also unintended hard pulls - which is phenomenal; it really empowers consumers, in my opinion.
I can't speak for CCT but myfico alerts work fine with a security freeze. However, I do have to unfreeze prior to pulling a report from myfico. Another downside is that your state may charge a fee each time you unfreeze (I think they're typically $5 or $10). So, you'll have to decide if a security freeze is for you. I think the inconvenience and minor cost is well worth what you get; it completely nullifies the threat of someone obtaining credit in your name. A fraud alert may be an adequate middle ground. You have none of the freeze hoops to jump through, but creditors will still contact you before granting new credit (I think).