O/T does anyone use a credit monitoring company?

due to everything going on with all the security breaches with Target, Home Depot, Chase, Bank of America, etc, we decided to finally try Lifelock. We did a year membership and used a 10% off coupon. We did the premium one as what is most important to me is making sure no one is trying to open lines of credit with our info. The banks have all been on top of any odd purchases, etc so I am not worried about those types of things but since some of the security breaches have been for personal info, that type of info can be used for getting loans, buying a car, etc, all things that credit card companies and equifax may not necessarily catch (I too was using equifax). I just want more peace of mind so decided to go for it. So far we are happy (it has only been a few months) and I feel a bit better.

But do know that the credit scores they show for each credit bureau are not the same ones that will show if you apply for a loan, etc (same thing with the "free" credit scores from CreditKarma)- they are different ones and probably lower than your TRUE credit scores. Equifax, of course, shows you your true score. Other than that, we like it.

If you're worried about hacking, skip Lifelock and just apply a freeze to your each report. Usually $10 per bureau. You have to lift the freeze if you're applying for credit. A LOT cheaper than Lifelock.

BTW, if you subscribe to credit monitoring services the credit bureaus sell that list to collection agencies. If you're THAT concerned about your credit, you'll pay up, right?!

I use Equifax. Which version of their protection are you using? They have multiple plans. You may just have a basic plan. Or, you may just not have any activity like you haven't opened a new card or you haven't had any of your creditors run a report on you.

I have the Equifax Gold. I just opened a TJ Maxx credit card and I got an email from Equifax about it and I had to go into the site and confirm it was me who opened the card.

I would also recommend everyone locking down their Social Security Number with USCIS through their MyEverify program that they just rolled out. This way your number can't be used to verify employment unless you unlock your social security number.

On 10/30/2014 Snowpuppy said:

If you're worried about hacking, skip Lifelock and just apply a freeze to your each report. Usually $10 per bureau. You have to lift the freeze if you're applying for credit. A LOT cheaper than Lifelock.

BTW, if you subscribe to credit monitoring services the credit bureaus sell that list to collection agencies. If you're THAT concerned about your credit, you'll pay up, right?!

We keep ours frozen as well. It's only very rarely that we have to lift them.

If you're looking for a way to discipline yourself from applying for new credit cards all the time from different stores, etc., this might help.

Lifelock!

We had the most expensive plan that they offered. I've had to get a new cc twice this yea and then someone hacked my debit card. All three times the bank notified me, not a word from Equifax.

Actually we haven't opened any new accounts but seems like they would have contacted me over the other three issues.

On 10/30/2014 Snowpuppy said:

If you're worried about hacking, skip Lifelock and just apply a freeze to your each report. Usually $10 per bureau. You have to lift the freeze if you're applying for credit. A LOT cheaper than Lifelock.

BTW, if you subscribe to credit monitoring services the credit bureaus sell that list to collection agencies. If you're THAT concerned about your credit, you'll pay up, right?!

I was recently listening to a radio program that airs here on the weekends (I catch in the car when running errands) Am sure some of you might be familiar with it. It is called Handle on the Law and basically gives free legal advise to those who call in.

There was a man who called in on the last show I heard and he was discussing debt. He had about 15,000 in credit card debt that he was feeling overwhelmed by and was asking if he should consider bankruptcy as an alternative. Think there were some other minor debts too but not significant. Anyway, the lawyer asked him how old the debt was and when did he last use the card and make his last payment on the account. It had been 7 years since he had made any payments or used that card (or cards). The attorney informed him that the credit card company (or companies, don't recall which) could legally no longer demand any payments from him for any outstanding cc debt that old due to the statute of limitations. He didn't mention the exact time frame required for the statute of limitations but for this caller, 7 years obviously exceeded it.

The Attorney also told him that it might not prevent the cc company or collection agencies from attempting to collect but to just ignore them as he was under no obligation legally to comply. I found the whole conversation interesting. Guess I never gave any thought about cc debt and statute of limitations. Also have no idea if individual state laws might vary as the attorney didn't elaborate.

Have to admit, I learn all kinds of interesting info from listening to this show. It's a really nice service for the public plus they have a website where they list attorneys in every state who can further help callers when they need it. Think they also offer kits for wills and such for minimal fees.

I realize this has little to do with the original topic but thought of it when Snowpuppy mentioned credit agencies selling reports to collection agencies.

On 10/30/2014 Nadine said:

We had the most expensive plan that they offered. I've had to get a new cc twice this yea and then someone hacked my debit card. All three times the bank notified me, not a word from Equifax.

Actually we haven't opened any new accounts but seems like they would have contacted me over the other three issues.

I would agree that it seems odd that you heard nothing from them. You would think that would be part of the service.

From all I am familiar with on these type of companies, Lifelock does seem to stand out as offering the most comprehensive coverage and protection. It still amazes me that people can actually obtain car, personal or home loans in someone else's name but that is what makes it so frightening. And often they are not so simple to clear up which makes it all the more frightening.

A hospital network was breached this year and what they accessed was all personal information from dates of birth to social security numbers, etc. The info you really don't want stolen. One of our local hospitals is connected to this network so it was front page news here.