Checking your credit, free online reports?

[wemple2]

Great information...thanks everyone for sharing your knowledge.

[Reese1]

Yes, thank you again everyone! I really appreciate all the info!

[txrosegirl]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Yep, agree w/ others - this is the real one; I think it's mandated/supported by govt. - I was just reading about this over the weekend.

I also read about how you can do what Lifelock does, for free. Lifelock charges you, for the same stuff that you are able to just do free of charge.

You can do your own Lifelock by putting a 90-day Fraud Alert on your credit, so no one can access it (this is exactly what Lifelock does). If you place the FA through Equifax - they will also notify Transunion and Experian. Then, all you do is renew it before the 90 days are up, so you're always covered. A more permanent option is to place a Credit Freeze on your account - and that also is a great option, for minimal fees.

thanks ann! so does this mean you can keep getting the 90-day alert over and over and over as long as you keep renewing? thanks so much for this info!

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by txrosegirl

thanks ann! so does this mean you can keep getting the 90-day alert over and over and over as long as you keep renewing? thanks so much for this info!

Yup, it sure does. I just put a fraud alert on both me and hubby's credit (a girlfriend of ours just had her ID stolen last week, I posted about it) after what happened to our friend. The FBI did find the guy who did it, so that's good.

So, you just renew before the 90 days is up - I set up an email reminder via my yahoo calendar - to repeat and notify me 15 days before the 90 days expires.

Here is where you request the fraud alert, which then goes to all 3 agencies:

https://www.alerts.equifax.com/AutoF...fraudAlert.jsp

[txrosegirl]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Yup, it sure does. I just put a fraud alert on both me and hubby's credit (a girlfriend of ours just had her ID stolen last week, I posted about it) after what happened to our friend. The FBI did find the guy who did it, so that's good.

So, you just renew before the 90 days is up - I set up an email reminder via my yahoo calendar - to repeat and notify me 15 days before the 90 days expires.

Here is where you request the fraud alert, which then goes to all 3 agencies:

https://www.alerts.equifax.com/AutoF...fraudAlert.jsp

oh thank you so much! and i am sorry to hear about your friend - how horrible! i am glad they caught the guy!

in just the past couple of weeks, i have gotten notices from two companies (one is my nordstrom visa and one is an utilities company i used to have) and both have said they had a "potential" breach in their security systems and i should check my credit reports and contact the bureaus about possibly putting a fraud alert on my credit and nordstrom actually sent me a new card with a new account number (i am waiting to call nordstrom directly to make sure this is legit) so your information could not have been more timely! thanks again so much

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by txrosegirl

oh thank you so much! and i am sorry to hear about your friend - how horrible! i am glad they caught the guy!

in just the past couple of weeks, i have gotten notices from two companies (one is my nordstrom visa and one is an utilities company i used to have) and both have said they had a "potential" breach in their security systems and i should check my credit reports and contact the bureaus about possibly putting a fraud alert on my credit and nordstrom actually sent me a new card with a new account number (i am waiting to call nordstrom directly to make sure this is legit) so your information could not have been more timely! thanks again so much

Oh no!! I am especially glad I posted this then! Seriously, it took me less than a minute to place the alerts through that link - and like I said, it then notifies all the bureaus - so then, your effort is complete. This is the exact same method LifeLock uses (the 90 day fraud alerts). You could also do the Credit Freeze, which is more permanent and a bit more complicated, but here is a great article on it, including sample letters to proceed - if you go that route :

Clark Howard: Credit Freeze Guide on clarkhoward.com

[Reese1]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Oh no!! I am especially glad I posted this then! Seriously, it took me less than a minute to place the alerts through that link - and like I said, it then notifies all the bureaus - so then, your effort is complete. This is the exact same method LifeLock uses (the 90 day fraud alerts). You could also do the Credit Freeze, which is more permanent and a bit more complicated, but here is a great article on it, including sample letters to proceed - if you go that route :

Clark Howard: Credit Freeze Guide on clarkhoward.com

Wow, that is great to know! I'm so glad I asked this because I've received more valuable information!