Identity theft questions

[fearful]

Good morning, happy 2012 to all.

I love MyFICO and how it's helped me get back on my feet.

However, I have a 'friend' who has re-surfaced and is always on the down and out, and I know in the past, she has used her boyfriend's identity to rent an apartment. 

She is now, likely to move to our area and because her NEW boyfriend is the same nationality of my husband, plus she (now) knows my exact DOB, etc, I am a little concerned she and the new boyfriend may try to use our identities.

With myself, I suspect / hope  it would show up on MyFICO, but my husband hasn't needed to join something like this plus he trusts, probably too much. 

Would anyone suggest we put a freeze on our credit? 

Does that need to be renewed every so often? 

What suggestions do any of you have? 

I've had my identity stolen before, many transactions happened that I didn't do, I resolved most of them but it was awful to go through and the cops absolutely could care less and do nothing about it.  I'm cannot help but be concerned about this, before the fact.

Any thoughts / ideas?

Thank you for your responses!

[llecs]

If I knew there was the potential for ID theft, I'd take some steps to safeguard. At the very least I would subscribe to a Credit Monitoring Service that monitors all 3 reports as opposed to a myFICO product....well, TUQM does monitor non-credit changes which may aid in early detection. With any CMS that monitors all 3, if there's an inquiry or a new account, you'll know right away.

If I felt there was an imminent risk, I'd opt for a fraud alert. In a freeze, there still a chance for an inquiry to appear, though a freeze makes it harder. I personally wouldn't go for it because some here had issues lifting that freeze or being charged a fee to lift the freeze. With a FA, no need to worry about any fees, though you can't exactly lift it and replace it that easily. However, you (and the "friend") would need to jump through extra hoops to verify identity.

I've had my identity stolen twice before via CC spoofing and it's a pain to deal with.

[laz98]

while i have been very fortunate & have not had to use a fraud alert (knock on wood!), i would say it's worth the trouble for you to do so, given this person's history.  better to be proactive than reactive.

[RobertEG]

An alternate to using state statutes to put a "freeze" on your CR is to put an initial fraud alert in your credit file.  That is free and merely requires you to file a request with the CRA under FCRA 605A.  An initial fraud alert last for 90 days, and notifies those who pull your CR to be on the alert for potential identity theft.

If any appearance of actual identity theft occurs, you can convert the intitial fraud alert to an extended alert by filing a police report identifying the appearance of potential identity theft.  Extended fraud alerts remain for, I believe, 5 years, and require that any party receiving a request for new credit in your name actually contact you personally before granting the credit. 

If a party does commit identity theft by using your name, you have the provisions of FCRA 609(e), regardless of whether you have filed a fraud alert, to compel the granting credtior to provide you with the documentation of the application papers and associated transactions.  Just send the police report to the creditor.  Additionally, the police report can be filed with the CRA to block any information that is asserted to have resulted from identity theft from continued inclusion in your CR under the provisions of section 605B.

I know it is best to block identity theft before it occurs, but if it should, the FCRA gives some fairly strong protection to block its impact and compel discovery of documentation from the creditor.