Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

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eye.surgeon
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Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by eye.surgeon »

I got a letter in the mail saying my Kohl's CC application had been declined due to locks on the 3 major credit bureaus and to please unlock them and reapply. Needless to say I did not apply for a Kohl's CC. Interestingly the letter was sent to my work address, not my home address. So a fraudulent attempt to open credit with my stolen identity blocked by my locking my credit reports. So glad I did that. I informed Kohl's but is there anything else I should do? I already monitor my credit activity.
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CAsage
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by CAsage »

Just a reminder for everyone - lock the "big 3" bureaus Experian, Equifax, Transunion, and the other two - Chex-systems and Innovis. Chex Systems blocks people from opening savings/checking in your name (which of course can entail fraud). My "chip" credit card saved me from (fraudulent) charges recently at Benihani in SF (where I was far from), card rejected as swipe failed. I'm thinking of setting alerts for Vanguard transactions....
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JD2775
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by JD2775 »

My credit has been frozen at the main bureaus for the past 4 years, ever since that big Equifax breach and my name came up as "compromised". Luckily I haven't needed to unfreeze any of them since then. At least not yet
SeekingWisdom_1
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by SeekingWisdom_1 »

Great reminder! I used to have the big 3 frozen but am not certain if the freezes are still in effect (they were placed for me for a period of 7 years after my identity was stolen years ago).

Anyone know the most efficient means to lock the big 3 plus the other 2 mentioned? If memory serves, last time I was dealing with locks it was a huge effort. Hopefully the process has improved...and I'm thrilled to know there are 2 other locks that can protect against someone fraudulently opening checking or savings accounts. Nice!

Any instructions or links are appreciated! I bet a number of us need to double-check that we've got things locked down tight!
Freefun
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by Freefun »

I did it online via their sites. I also periodically check them and monitor my credit.
My SS was stolen and used already. I falsely claimed unemployment insurance and I’ve been dead (at the same time).
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Normchad
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by Normchad »

Great reminder. Between the breaches at Equifax, Target, and OPM, I think everybody should just assume all of their information is already in the hands of criminals. Including social security number, etc.
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anon_investor
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by anon_investor »

Normchad wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 5:27 pm Great reminder. Between the breaches at Equifax, Target, and OPM, I think everybody should just assume all of their information is already in the hands of criminals. Including social security number, etc.
Yep. Everyone should also create an IRS Identity Protection PIN to prevent fraudulent tax returns.
afan
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by afan »

For those who do not know, there is a difference between "freezing" your reports and "locking" them

Freezing, which you should do, is a federally mandated process, free and the credit bureaus have no control over what it means

Locking is a product they developed to sell, not regulated, typically requires paying them and there is no reason to think it is as secure.

My credit reports have been frozen since long before the Equifax outrage. They have never been locked
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IowaFarmWife
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by IowaFarmWife »

Freefun wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 5:22 pm I did it online via their sites. I also periodically check them and monitor my credit.
My SS was stolen and used already. I falsely claimed unemployment insurance and I’ve been dead (at the same time).
I'm glad you're back among the living! :D
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Candor
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by Candor »

I need to take the time and do this. Thanks for the reminder.
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Freefun
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by Freefun »

I also find credit cards make it easy to quickly monitor credit scores, including Amex, Chase and Capital One. I seem to get the quickest alerts from Capital One if my score changes by even 1 point.

Edit:

Also, the IRS has a form if you have identity theft, and you can request a PIN code to use when filing taxes.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/taxpayer-g ... tity-theft
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Normchad
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by Normchad »

anon_investor wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 5:38 pm
Normchad wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 5:27 pm Great reminder. Between the breaches at Equifax, Target, and OPM, I think everybody should just assume all of their information is already in the hands of criminals. Including social security number, etc.
Yep. Everyone should also create an IRS Identity Protection PIN to prevent fraudulent tax returns.
Another excellent point. And similarly, setup your social security accounts before somebody does it for you.
Normchad
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by Normchad »

afan wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 5:50 pm For those who do not know, there is a difference between "freezing" your reports and "locking" them

Freezing, which you should do, is a federally mandated process, free and the credit bureaus have no control over what it means

Locking is a product they developed to sell, not regulated, typically requires paying them and there is no reason to think it is as secure.

My credit reports have been frozen since long before the Equifax outrage. They have never been locked
Very interesting. I did not know this. I will have to check and see what I’ve done.....

I know I haven’t been able to switch to FiOS because I can’t manage to undo whichever one they use..... so I take this as a good sign it was effective.....
Freefun
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by Freefun »

I also recommend signing up for fraud alerts which can be done at the same time as freezing.

While each agency is supposed to send fraud alert requests to the other agencies, I don’t trust them so I contact each myself.

As I think was mentioned above, I don’t recommend locking or otherwise paying them for “protection.” I think it’s crazy they can invent stuff to sell based on the premise they can’t protect your data in the first place.
Remember when you wanted what you currently have?
SeekingWisdom_1
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by SeekingWisdom_1 »

Thanks. Good point about the distinction between locking and freezing. Freezing my credit is what was done before. (I think it may occur automatically following an identity being stolen.)

To the poster who has been dead, filed for unemployment, and had his social security stolen, I'm glad you're still with us...I hope that all got straightened out.
theplayer11
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by theplayer11 »

afan wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 5:50 pm For those who do not know, there is a difference between "freezing" your reports and "locking" them

Freezing, which you should do, is a federally mandated process, free and the credit bureaus have no control over what it means

Locking is a product they developed to sell, not regulated, typically requires paying them and there is no reason to think it is as secure.

My credit reports have been frozen since long before the Equifax outrage. They have never been locked
You can lock Equifax and Trans Union via their websites for free. It's a simple click of a button and I find it much more convenient than a freeze as I play the credit card bonus game. They claim it accomplishes the same as a freeze, it seems to work for me. I did freeze Experian as they don't offer a free lock.
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tooluser
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by tooluser »

eye.surgeon wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 12:15 am I got a letter in the mail saying my Kohl's CC application had been declined due to locks on the 3 major credit bureaus and to please unlock them and reapply. Needless to say I did not apply for a Kohl's CC. Interestingly the letter was sent to my work address, not my home address. So a fraudulent attempt to open credit with my stolen identity blocked by my locking my credit reports. So glad I did that. I informed Kohl's but is there anything else I should do? I already monitor my credit activity.
If your company has a security department, and you trust them, you should inform them of the use of your work address. Perhaps it was an inside job. But perhaps also, from inside the security department. So be careful. Perhaps only contact the head of security. There may have been others affected. But you're probably okay just freezing your credit.
IfIOnlyKnew
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by IfIOnlyKnew »

eye.surgeon wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 12:15 am I got a letter in the mail saying my Kohl's CC application had been declined due to locks on the 3 major credit bureaus and to please unlock them and reapply. Needless to say I did not apply for a Kohl's CC. Interestingly the letter was sent to my work address, not my home address. So a fraudulent attempt to open credit with my stolen identity blocked by my locking my credit reports. So glad I did that. I informed Kohl's but is there anything else I should do? I already monitor my credit activity.
Good job OP! Because of inaction and laziness on my part I had never frozen my Credit. Well, a few days ago I got alerted via credit monitoring that I had two hard inquiries to my credit. I’ve not applied for any credit recently so I knew it was fraud. What would have been mostly a non-issue if I had just taken the bit of time to freeze my credit ended up taking me several hours to dispute the inquiries with the credit bureaus and contact the two firms and let them know the credit applications were fraudulent.
angelescrest
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by angelescrest »

CAsage wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 10:26 am Just a reminder for everyone - lock the "big 3" bureaus Experian, Equifax, Transunion, and the other two - Chex-systems and Innovis. Chex Systems blocks people from opening savings/checking in your name (which of course can entail fraud). My "chip" credit card saved me from (fraudulent) charges recently at Benihani in SF (where I was far from), card rejected as swipe failed. I'm thinking of setting alerts for Vanguard transactions....
I’ve never heard of Chex and Innovis. Is this essential to freeze, too?
Bogle64Pilot
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by Bogle64Pilot »

angelescrest wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 6:46 am
CAsage wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 10:26 am Just a reminder for everyone - lock the "big 3" bureaus Experian, Equifax, Transunion, and the other two - Chex-systems and Innovis. Chex Systems blocks people from opening savings/checking in your name (which of course can entail fraud). My "chip" credit card saved me from (fraudulent) charges recently at Benihani in SF (where I was far from), card rejected as swipe failed. I'm thinking of setting alerts for Vanguard transactions....
I’ve never heard of Chex and Innovis. Is this essential to freeze, too?
Same here what are these?
runninginvestor
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by runninginvestor »

IowaFarmWife wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 5:54 pm
Freefun wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 5:22 pm I did it online via their sites. I also periodically check them and monitor my credit.
My SS was stolen and used already. I falsely claimed unemployment insurance and I’ve been dead (at the same time).
I'm glad you're back among the living! :D
Schrödinger's human
Yarlonkol12
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by Yarlonkol12 »

anon_investor wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 5:38 pm
Normchad wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 5:27 pm Great reminder. Between the breaches at Equifax, Target, and OPM, I think everybody should just assume all of their information is already in the hands of criminals. Including social security number, etc.
Yep. Everyone should also create an IRS Identity Protection PIN to prevent fraudulent tax returns.
Thanks for the suggestion, I just created one. One question I probably should have asked prior though: If I already filed my taxes, my return was accepted, and I received my return in March. Will having a PIN now create some kind of problem for that previous filing?
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IowaFarmWife
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by IowaFarmWife »

runninginvestor wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 6:50 am
IowaFarmWife wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 5:54 pm
Freefun wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 5:22 pm I did it online via their sites. I also periodically check them and monitor my credit.
My SS was stolen and used already. I falsely claimed unemployment insurance and I’ve been dead (at the same time).
I'm glad you're back among the living! :D
Schrödinger's human
LOL..... meow.
"A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore." Yogi Berra's financial wisdom.
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RickBoglehead
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by RickBoglehead »

Bogle64Pilot wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 6:48 am
angelescrest wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 6:46 am
CAsage wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 10:26 am Just a reminder for everyone - lock the "big 3" bureaus Experian, Equifax, Transunion, and the other two - Chex-systems and Innovis. Chex Systems blocks people from opening savings/checking in your name (which of course can entail fraud). My "chip" credit card saved me from (fraudulent) charges recently at Benihani in SF (where I was far from), card rejected as swipe failed. I'm thinking of setting alerts for Vanguard transactions....
I’ve never heard of Chex and Innovis. Is this essential to freeze, too?
Same here what are these?
If you type the names into Google you'd find out :wink:

As stated in another reply, Chex Systems blocks people from opening savings/checking in your name. Quite simple. Block it, then go try and open a bank account.

Innovis is just another credit bureau. There are the big three, then Innovis.
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afan
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Re: Attempted fraudulent CC application in my name...lock your credit reports people

Post by afan »

Krebs on Security on freezes and locks

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/09/cre ... age-begin/
Unsurprisingly, the bureaus’ use of the term credit lock has confused many consumers; this was almost certainly by design. But here’s one basic fact consumers should keep in mind about these lock services: Unlike freezes, locks are not governed by any law, meaning that the credit bureaus can change the terms of these arrangements when and if it suits them to do so.
We don't know how to beat the market on a risk-adjusted basis, and we don't know anyone that does know either | --Swedroe | We assume that markets are efficient, that prices are right | --Fama
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