topic Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach in Community Chat

Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

LogoFan — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 01:03:39 GMT

I called Transunion & placed an alert by phone (assumed this alert would also be applied to Equifax & Experian).

Today I received a letter from Transunion basically stating they got my request for a credit report & they provided a copy of my report. Letter also asked me to review the report for inaccurate or incomplete information & instructions on how to open an investigation on-line.

Kind of confusing. I expected a confirmation letter that alert was placed and maybe expiration date. Is this their normal reponse to an alert? Anyone else have this experience?

Thanks for any input.

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

BirdieGal — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 01:07:41 GMT

You have to go to each site or call each one individually to put a freeze on your account.

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

BirdieGal — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 01:09:09 GMT

We did all of ours online. Printed out credit report for each agency separately and the initiated a freeze.

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

Kachina624 — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 01:11:04 GMT

@LogoFanPerhaps you should call and get clarification on what was done?

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

millieshops — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 01:19:15 GMT

@LogoFanAs I understand the words - a FRAUD ALERT tells you about issues or possible issues with your existing accounts while FREEZE with the reporting agencies prevents hackers from opening new accounts using your information. That way they can run up bills in your name and it could be quite a while before you'd even know that because the alerts would go to the hackrs.

Please check and make certain what you did - the language is really important. I feel more comfortable with a Freeze because lots of my accounts already send me alerts. It's the hidden accounts I worry about.

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

blinksmom — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 01:34:27 GMT

I went on the Federal Trade Commission website and found a lot of information . Hope this helps.

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

NicksmomESQ — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 02:11:20 GMT

@LogoFan A fraud alert is a 90 day alert you place on your credit.If you do it for one agency that agency will then advise the other two on your behalf.You must renew it every 90 Days or it will expire.

A credit freeze is the most secure protection you can place. In this case you have to personally contact each agency in order to place the freeze.They will each provide you with a pin #.If you ever want to apply for credit you will need the pin # to temporarily lift the freeze for each agency. It remains in place for 7 years. Depending where you live there could be a small charge for each agency.

Two years ago my i d was compromised & I did the alert, renewing it every 90 Days.After the recent Equifax breach DH & I decided to bite the bullet & we froze our credit.

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

tucsongal — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 02:15:42 GMT

I agree about going to a reputable site to get your information as well as calling to verify what you had put in place.

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

Cats3000 — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 09:55:36 GMT

A Fraud Alert is NOT a Credit Freeze; they are different matters. We do have freezes a the 3 credit reporting bureaus. We did 2 on line and got confirmations. We did the freezes individually with each of the credit reporting bureaus We had trouble on line with TransUnion and had to do it by phone. We received 2 letters from them. One confirms the freeze and the second one is the one you described. If you didn't get the confirmation letter, you might want to inquire with them.

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

KathyPet — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 10:59:12 GMT

A fraud alert is what you put on your CRedit Report once a actual incident of fraud has occurred. IN the case of the recent credit breach unless you are aware that your credit information has been used by someone there has been no fraud committed and so a fraud alert is not the correct action. WHat you want is to "freeze" your file so no credit grantor can get your credit file in the event your information is used by a thief to open a new loan, credit card, mortgage etc.

You have to freeze your file with each credit bureau separately. It can be done on line and while Equifax will not charge you the other credit bureaus will.

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

CalminHeart — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 11:13:26 GMT

@BirdieGal wrote:
You have to go to each site or call each one individually to put a freeze on your account.

If you place the fraud alert on Equifax.com, you don't have to go to all three sites.

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

Financialgrl — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 13:34:34 GMT

I didn't do anything after the Equifax issue but just yesterday I got the postcard about the Anthem breach saying I was compromised 3 months ago - thanks guys! They are offering 2 years of monitoring free. At this point, I'm thinking it's now time to put a freeze on everything cuz I don't need any more credit cards, just got a new mortgage and my car is only 3 years old.

The only thing I want to check - if my credit card gets hacked they always reissue a new card. Will they still be able to do that? I'm guessing they can but I don't want to be w/o the major credit card I use most often.

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

CelticCrafter — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 14:06:10 GMT

I went to all three sites just yesterday and froze our credit and got confirmation from all of them for both of us.

I wish there was something you could do about drivers licenses until it's time to renew them.

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

LogoFan — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 15:57:57 GMT

Thanks for all responses. Kachina 624, will call and confirm what took place. I do remember the agent at TransUnion confirmed that the fraud alert was placed by phone and said I would receive a letter. Will find out what is expected of me in this case.

There are varied opinions about Fraud Alert vs Freeze here and in the many other forums on this subject. Blindsmon, I went to FTC website. Thanks for that. Here is just some information I got from their site.

"What do fraud alerts and credit freezes do? With a fraud alert, businesses must try to verify your identity before extending new credit. Usually that means calling to check if you’re at a particular store attempting to take out new credit. With a credit freeze, no one – including you – can access your credit report to open new accounts. You’ll get a PIN number to use each time you want to freeze and unfreeze your account to apply for new credit.

How long do fraud alerts and credit freezes last? A fraud alert lasts for 90 days. You can renew it but you’ll need to remind yourself or it will expire automatically. Identity theft victims are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which last seven years. In almost all states, a credit freeze lasts until you temporarily lift or permanently remove it. In a few states, it expires after seven years.

How much do they cost? Fraud alerts are free. Credit freezes may involve fees, based on state law. In most states, they’re free for identity theft victims. For non-victims, they cost about $5 to $10 each time you freeze or unfreeze your account with each credit reporting agency.

How do I place a fraud alert or credit freeze? To place a fraud alert, contact any one of the three major credit reporting agencies, either by phone or online. The one you contact is required to notify the other two. If you’re an identity theft victim placing an extended fraud alert, you’ll also need to mail or upload your Identity Theft Report which you can create at IdentityTheft.gov. To place a credit freeze, you must contact each of the three credit reporting agencies individually at their credit freeze portals."

Based on this, it is my understandfing that fraud alert is a softer form of monitoring and there is contact with you to confirm that you are trying to take out more credit, and not a thief. Just more complicated if you are actually an identity theft victim.

Again, thanks for all help. I really appreciate it. I am guilty of trying to get answers the easy way because I am dealing with multiple health issues right now and overwhelmed with handling those issues. Sometimes it is really difficult to spend a lot of time trying to resolve issues such as this breach.

Thanks for all input.

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

corita — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 17:19:47 GMT

My DD and I have a question --

With a fraud alert, do you get notified every time the credit cards are used??? Even if it is you using them?? Or just over a certain amount at each use???

We were wondering if I would get notified every time I went to Walmart or Walgreens etc....

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

Mona_L — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 18:04:21 GMT

When this type of breach happened to me with ANTHEM (insurance) ... I now get FREE credit monitoring paid for by Anthem. Equifax will probably do the same after a "class action lawsuit" is rendered.

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

Financialgrl — Sat, 14 Oct 2017 09:48:15 GMT

@Mona_L wrote:
When this type of breach happened to me with ANTHEM (insurance) ... I now get FREE credit monitoring paid for by Anthem. Equifax will probably do the same after a "class action lawsuit" is rendered.

I just yesterday got the postcard about free monitoring for 2 years from Anthem - I was angry bc it seems that happened a good while ago.

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

Financialgrl — Sat, 14 Oct 2017 09:53:59 GMT

@corita wrote:
My DD and I have a question --
With a fraud alert, do you get notified every time the credit cards are used??? Even if it is you using them?? Or just over a certain amount at each use???
We were wondering if I would get notified every time I went to Walmart or Walgreens etc....

I don't know the answer to your question but I have all my credit/debit cards set up like that right now without a fraud alert. Both my credit union and Wells Fargo have it so you can place alerts to be notified each time your card is swiped.

What I like about that - it's much harder to remember how much you spent at any store if you wait the 30-45 days for your statement. Around here there are a lot of gas stations having their pumps tampered with and crooks adding the phishing software placed to trap and capture PIN numbers. Getting an immediate notification means you can ****** it in the bud, call and cancel your card right as it happens.

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

CelticCrafter — Sat, 14 Oct 2017 11:01:47 GMT

@Financialgrl wrote:
@corita wrote:
My DD and I have a question --
With a fraud alert, do you get notified every time the credit cards are used??? Even if it is you using them?? Or just over a certain amount at each use???
We were wondering if I would get notified every time I went to Walmart or Walgreens etc....
I don't know the answer to your question but I have all my credit/debit cards set up like that right now without a fraud alert. Both my credit union and Wells Fargo have it so you can place alerts to be notified each time your card is swiped.

What I like about that - it's much harder to remember how much you spent at any store if you wait the 30-45 days for your statement. Around here there are a lot of gas stations having their pumps tampered with and crooks adding the phishing software placed to trap and capture PIN numbers. Getting an immediate notification means you can ****** it in the bud, call and cancel your card right as it happens.

That's how we have ours set up. We get notified every single time it's been used, either swiped or when used on-line.

Re: Placing Fraud Alert Because of Equifax Breach

KathyPet — Sat, 14 Oct 2017 13:48:09 GMT

@corita wrote:
My DD and I have a question --
With a fraud alert, do you get notified every time the credit cards are used??? Even if it is you using them?? Or just over a certain amount at each use???
We were wondering if I would get notified every time I went to Walmart or Walgreens etc....

a fraud alert is only activated if someone attempts to open a new credit card or loan. It has nothing to do with your use of your existing credit cards. A fraud alert is placed so the credit bureau notifies the business/bank so that they (not the credit Bureau) confirms the identity of the person applying for new credit to ensure it is you.

Now some credit card issuers can set up your account so that you are notified every time a charge is made on your existing credit card but that is between you and your credit card issuer and has absolutely nothing to do with the credit bureaus.