Identity theft protection

[zelmo]

I have my credit frozen at the big three and am very diligent with regard to online phishing attempts. I thought I was fairly safe from a big scam (say title theft) because I thought any attempt at a transfer that needed a notary wouldn't work. I recently found out how easy it is for bad actors to get fake IDs that would be readily accepted by notaries and that has me rethinking the need for more protection.

Does anyone have a protection service that flagged an identity theft attempt? LifeLock, Identity Guard, and IdentityForce all have plans with the same goal but offer different levels of protection. Unless you have experience with an attempt it is hard to know how good they work.

As an example, some offer data breach notifications. Many of us had to deal with the data breach at TW a couple of years ago. The feeling at the time was that the problem was exacerbated by TW not making an announcement for several months although they had contacted law enforcement as soon as the found out if my memory is correct. Would LifeLock have picked that up sooner giving us time to do something with the credit cards TW had on file?

[Dixie-Raven]

You might be worrying about it too much. If it happens it happens and then you deal with it. No matter what you do there will always be a chance of someone doing something, just a part of life.

[Rangerdeepv]

Lifelock for almost 20 years.

[zelmo]

Lifelock for almost 20 years.

Has it ever kicked in and alerted you to a problem?

[janky]

Has it ever kicked in and alerted you to a problem?

It has for me. Someone was grocery shopping in Baton Rouge one time. Another time someone was trying to open a department store credit card in my name. I forgot which store it was. Several times I have gotten an email asking if it was me doing certain activities.

[zelmo]

Several times I have gotten an email asking if it was me doing certain activities.

Has that ever resulted in a problem of a legitimate transaction being blocked?

[f16 1ub]

I keep my identity froze on the big 3 credit accounts. Only open when needed. Got hit 7 yrs ago when hospital failed to pay ransom & released all info. Cost me nothing but headaches & monitoring. My location allows you to sign up with monitoring by local officials for free. And my bank notifies me by text upon fraud alert. No charge. Either accept chg or deny. If you deny, your credit card is closed immediately. Don’t let them tell you 5-7 business days for new. Insist on overnight.

[ChuckS]

Put credit freezes in place back in 2010. All kinds of data breaches going on. And think you’re lucky if they come clean. Off the top of my head my info has been breached through CHAMPUS, TRICARE, OPM, TW, and PAYPAL. The credit freeze is easy, free and locks your account down. No one can open an account without you being contacted. You can’t even sign up for free credit monitoring.

It is a slight PIA of you need to have a hard credit pull for an auto loan or mortgage. But it’s better than it used to be. While the freeze was free, they used to charge $5 bucks to in freeze. Now it’s free.

[Jeff Hahn]

We also have our credit locked with the big 3 companies. We also have a notification set up with our bank. Every time something is charged to our credit cards, I get a notification on my phone.

[billnorman1]

Gave away my identity when I lost a credit card and got scammed on my phone, phony bank site. Anyhow, I have my credit frozen at the big 3, and the scammers have tried a lot to get cards but failed because they're frozen.

[Bass Stalker]

I use Lifelock and CreditKarma (free). Both give alerts when something changes with my credit cards or SSN. I also setup alerts with my credit card apps when a transaction more than $100 occurs. They have saved me a couple of times.

[troutspinner]

I am paranoid of those services. They just become another source for your info to be gained via a hack.....or "convenient hack". ie, sell your info and blame it on being hacked.

[MichPhoenix77]

My wife went through identity theft. One of the best things we did was lock all of our credit with all of the credit agencies. It makes it very difficult for someone to take out credit in your name. If you need a loan for anything you just unlock your credit for 24 hours and then re-lock it.

[CaymasRodney]

Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion i think these are the Big Three and they charge right at 20.00/30.00 per month, kind of concerned going to a free company, should i be concerned.

[MCPO]

We also have our credit locked with the big 3 companies. We also have a notification set up with our bank. Every time something is charged to our credit cards, I get a notification on my phone.

Work for me! Had a problem years ago. No problems since locking with the big 3.

[Jbass2]

Here is a long answer.

Lifelock has alerted me to at least 5 different instances on my personal info. I also receive a general notification when a company reports a security breach regardless of if I do business with that company. Some banks use questions to verify your identity. The questions are developed from address/titles/registrations you have used in the past. For example, which one of these cars or addresses have you been affiliated with. Which one of these professional liscences have you obtained. Lifelock appears to be tied into that database, and I immediately received alerts when someone attempted to call my credit card company and tried to answer those question. Within 4 minutes, I had called the credit card company, canceled my card, and changed my passwords/usernames. They had randomly guessed the correct answer and the credit card company had given them access.

Another time, Lifelock alerted me that someone had applied for small business loans in my name. I called the US small business administration immediately, and they pulled the application that had been submitted the day before and prevented the loans. From your account, you can manager your credit freezes at some of the credit bureaus.

I wish lifelock was easier to deal with after an event. I still have it for the instant alerts, but I don't enjoy calling in if I need help.

It is easy to setup online accounts with the 3 credit bureaus, and you can monitor your own information through those accounts. If you have been a victim, you can place a fraud alert on your credit report, and you are supposed to be called at the number you provide before any credit is extended. It only last a year. If you filed a police report, then you can use that report to place a 7 year credit alert with the 3 bureaus. Be aware that a lot of government institutions don't check the credit bureaus before they provide loans or grants.

If you have not done so, you should call all your financial institutions and see if they allow you to put a verbal passcode on your accounts. They will not conduct any business or discuss your account with anyone if they can't provide the verbal passcode. You just can't forget it, but in my opinion, this provides the absolute best level of security.

[zelmo]

Freezing or locking your credit is a start but there is more to this issue than just a fraudulent credit application. I have learned that it is very important to know if your information is floating around on the dark web and is for sale. If it is it can be used for government loans or grants, filing tax returns and stealing a refund, stealing deeds and titles, compromising health care benefits, even having crimes committed in your name.

An advertised feature of LifeLock is dark web monitoring. I just don't know how well it works.

[billjaco]

This all reminds me of the old days when the mob would offer window insurance. Pay $10 a week and your windows didn't get busted out by one of their goons.

In modern times you pay security companies who employ convicted hacking experts to protect you from hackers. (RIP Mitnick)

[Jbass2]

Freezing or locking your credit is a start but there is more to this issue than just a fraudulent credit application. I have learned that it is very important to know if your information is floating around on the dark web and is for sale. If it is it can be used for government loans or grants, filing tax returns and stealing a refund, stealing deeds and titles, compromising health care benefits, even having crimes committed in your name.

An advertised feature of LifeLock is dark web monitoring. I just don't know how well it works.

What do you do when you know your info is floating around on the dark web?

[zelmo]

What do you do when you know your info is floating around on the dark web?

https://money.com/what-to-do-if-your...-the-dark-web/