photo credit: Andy Tinkham
Because I strive to be a “do it yourselfer”, I figure that my first line of defense against identity theft is what I can do on my own. My wife and I are vigilant about safeguarding our personal information, especially our Social Security numbers. We own a shredder and use it regularly. We check our credit reports and we each have security freezes placed with all three major consumer credit reporting agencies.
So What is Security Freeze?
The security freeze (also known as credit freeze, credit report freeze and credit lock) locks the individual’s data at the consumer reporting agency until he gives permission for the release of the data. Security freezes are often viewed as the most effective way to prevent identity theft because the freeze, by stopping access to the credit report, blocks all issuing of credit.
If, for example, someone had my social security number and tried using it to open a new and fraudulent credit card, he would not be able to if the credit card company wanted to run a credit check first. Why? Because my credit report is frozen (blocked) and cannot be thawed without my express permission. Therefore, the credit card application would be denied. Of course, knowing that some credit card companies give cards to dead people and pets, the freeze is not altogether fail-proof.
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