Community Chat

[on the bay]

@bluecrab33 -

So creepy!

On the other hand try un freezing your credit with experian and you have to send in your life history and documents last time I tried!

The other 2 were not so hard, you could do it by phone I believe.

Experian is a mess and there are class action lawsuits.

[deb5555]

You can also put a *Fraud Alert* on your credit bureau accounts. 

[MissMadi]

Just curious....Do you know what happens if I freeze my credit accounts and I go to buy a big purchase like a car?  Would the car dealer be able to get a credit rating on me without a bunch of rigamarole?

[bluecrab33]

Absolutely right about verifying numbers before calling them back. I was so upset about it I wasn't thinking clearly. I just did verify the number with Sprint thank heaven. I will never do that again without checking first.

[Lipstickdiva]

Just found out from a FB group I belong to that Princess cruiselines and Hollan America, both of which are under the Carnival umbrella, had a hack last year that has just now been revealed.  It included social security number and passport information being hacked.

[Icegoddess]

I got a call yesterday from a "Toll Free Caller", so of course I didn't answer it.  They left a message for me using my name and asking me to call back to verify a purchase.  I wasn't going to do it, but I Googled the phone number and found several comments that this was the number for a company called Music Friends or something to that effect and that they were verifying purchases.  I decided to call, gave them the order number, and the guy asked if I had placed an order with them for around $237.  I had not.  I had never heard of these people.  The order had been placed around 10:30 that morning. He even told me which card the purchase was made on so I could call my credit card company even though he said they would also cancel the order on their end. The one thing I neglected to ask them was where the equipment was supposed to be sent.  

I called my credit card number and sure enough the charge was there, along with another charge from ADT for another $217.  Now, I had gotten the bill for that card also yesterday and those charges were not on it.  So, if that company had not called to verify the order, I wouldn't have known about the fraud until next month, and who knows how much other stuff would've been charged on it by then.  The only recent charges on that card were from my Vet in Dec, and Bearpaw & Dior in early Feb, so I'm suspecting one of the last two. Not sure if I should try to contact them about it. I'm sure they would deny that they could be the source of the breach.  Of course, it could just be one of those Dark Web things.  

On the same day, I got a letter from the company that owns WORX where I bought my husband a leaf blower for Christmas that they had a data breach.  That was on a different card, so not the source of my CC fraud above.

Something really sad, we recently lost a police officer.  They had set up an account for his widow at the local Credit Union for people to donate to.  That account somehow got hacked TWICE in a one month period.  That was right before we left for our ski trip, so I don't know if any of that situation got resolved.  Haven't seen anything on the news about is since we got back. 

[shoesnbags]

@bluecrab33 

We have our credit frozen, too, and reading your post makes me very happy we did so. It’s a little bit of a pain when you have to occasionally unfreeze it for a legitimate purpose, but well worth the effort. Thanks for letting us know how this worked out for you. 

[Mindy D]

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@bluecrab33 wrote:

I received a letter from Sprint yesterday stating that my credit application could not be approved because it wasn't complete. There was an 800 number to call if I wished to follow up and complete the application. I have never ever applied for credit with Sprint. I was fortunate to get an extremely helpful service rep when I called the 800 number. She confirmed that the application was in my name and address. The application also had my correct social security number on it. The application was made at a Best Buy store. The ONLY reason the application was not approved was because I had frozen my credit information with the three major credit bureaus and they could not check it.

I remember that Experian had a huge breach not that long ago, but who knows if that is how someone obtained my information. I know this happens every day, but for those of you on the fence about freezing your credit information it is something to think about. 

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Put freezes on your credit with all the credit bureaus. 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=2ahUKEwjejcOvqoboAhXjRd8KHehDBMI...

[shoesnbags]

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@Ainhisg wrote:

Good to know that freezing works!  When the big Experian fiasco happened, I froze my elderly mother's, my husband's, and my credit.  It will probably be a bear to open back up when my husband needs to buy a new vehicle, but we will see.

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@Ainhisg 

I’ve unfrozen ours twice and it wasn’t a big deal - as long as you’ve kept your PIN # that you were given when you froze it. 

[shoesnbags]

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@MissMadi wrote:

Just curious....Do you know what happens if I freeze my credit accounts and I go to buy a big purchase like a car?  Would the car dealer be able to get a credit rating on me without a bunch of rigamarole?

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You will have to temporarily unfreeze your credit using the PIN # that you were given when you froze it. You can indicate exactly what dates you want the freeze to stop and to start up again. I was able to do it all online last time. Just don’t lose that PIN #.