Credit Freeze or Fraud Alert: What’s Right for Your Credit Report? Murphy Wall

Credit Freeze or Fraud Alert: What’s Right for Your Credit Report?

Credit freezes and fraud alerts can help protect you from identity theft. They can also help stop someone who stole your identity from continuing to misuse it. Credit freezes and fraud alerts work in different ways. Your personal situation will determine which one is right for you.

Is a Credit Freeze Right for You?

You don’t have to wait for your Social Security number or other information to be exposed in a data breach — or misused by an identity thief — to benefit from a credit freeze. Anyone can use a freeze to protect themselves against identity theft. A freeze keeps people from getting into your credit report. While a freeze is in place, nobody can open a new credit account. A freeze is free to place and lift and it doesn’t affect your credit score. Even if you already have a credit freeze in place, you can place a fraud alert.

Three Types of Fraud Alerts:

Initial Fraud Alert
Extended Fraud Alert
Active Duty Fraud Alert

Which Fraud Alert Is Right for You?
Remember that a credit freeze can help protect you from identity theft. You can place both a credit freeze and any type of fraud alert.
Initial fraud alert	Extended fraud alert	Active duty fraud alert
Place when you’re concerned about identity theft. It makes it harder for someone to open a new credit account in your name. It’s free and lasts one year.	Place when you’ve had your identity stolen and completed an FTC identity theft report at IdentityTheft.gov or filed a police report. It makes it harder for someone to open a new credit account in your name and removes you from unsolicited credit and insurance offers for five years. It’s free and lasts seven years.	Place when you’re on active military duty. It makes it harder for someone to open a new credit account in your name and removes you from unsolicited credit and insurance offers for two years. It’s free and lasts one year.

How to place a fraud alert:

Contact any one of the three credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You don’t have to contact all three. The credit bureau you contact must tell the other two to place the fraud alert (Initial, Extended, or Active Duty fraud alerts) on your credit report.

Equifax – 1-800-525-6285

Experian – 1-888-397-3742

TransUnion – 1-800-680-7289

Credit Reports play an important role in your financial life. Checking your credit report helps detect the possibility of identity theft. Federal law allows you to get a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each credit reporting company. Visit https://www.annualcreditreport.com for your free annual credit report.

***Come talk to a Murphy-Wall State Bank CSR and ask about our ELITE package for additional Identity Theft monitoring and other available services ***

Source:

https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/credit-freeze-or-fraud-alert-whats-right-your-credit-report

https://www.annualcreditreport.com

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Credit Freeze or Fraud Alert: What’s Right for Your Credit Report?

Which Fraud Alert Is Right for You?

Remember that a credit freeze can help protect you from identity theft. You can place both a credit freeze and any type of fraud alert.

Initial fraud alert

Extended fraud alert

Active duty fraud alert

Place when you’re concerned about identity theft. It makes it harder for someone to open a new credit account in your name. It’s free and lasts one year.

Place when you’re on active military duty. It makes it harder for someone to open a new credit account in your name and removes you from unsolicited credit and insurance offers for two years. It’s free and lasts one year.