By Benecia Beyer
Nearly 10 million Americans fall victim to identity theft each year. 
Financial institutions, credit bureaus, and other companies have not done a good job securing personal data. As a result, identity theft is one of the fastest growing financial crimes.
I've seen the movies and watched how it happened -- and I always thought to myself, "but that could never happen to me" -- as I'm sure some of the victims had the same thoughts themselves!
Since 2003, all California residents have had the right to freeze their credit reports, prohibiting credit from being issued in their names. This was a first for the United States. Four other states have offered their residents the same rights and over the next year, four more will offer this right. Most importantly, effective July 1st, the state of Colorado has made this available to all residents and to any consumer -- you do not need to be a previous victim of identity theft - as you do in some states.
Anyone can ask the three major credit reporting agencies to place a fraud alert on their credit reports. Fraud alerts are supposed to alert you when someone applies for credit in your name and they signal creditors to contact you for permission to issue credit in your name. Residents of any state can put a fraud alert on their reports. Creditors, however, aren't required to abide by or even check the alert.
A credit (security) freeze goes one step further. With a credit freeze, no one can open any form of credit in your name. Your credit file is off limits to potential lenders, insurers and even potential employers. They can't even access it. But this doesn't mean that you won't be able to get credit for yourself or allow potential employers to run a background check. The three credit bureaus assign a personal identification number for you when you freeze your report. Using this PIN, you can lift the freeze when ever necessary.
With a credit-lock down like this in place, a criminal can have your name, birthday and social security number - but it won't matter -- because no credit will be issued. Period. It's the only tool to available that actually gives consumers the ability to prevent identity theft before it happens.
To lock down your credit report, you must contact each of the three credit-reporting agencies. TransUnion, Equifax, Experian. You will need to send a certified letter with your name, address, social security number, date of birth, and proof of current address (i.e. utility bill).
Equifax Security Freeze
PO Box 105788
Atlanta, GA 30348
1-888-766-0008
Experian Security Freeze
PO Box 1017
Allen, TX 75013
1-888-397-3742
customerservice@creditexpert.com
TransUnion Security Freeze
PO Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834
1-800-680-7289
fvad@transunion.com
There is no fee for the first freeze, $10 for each additional freeze. $10 to lift temporarily or permanently per credit reporting agency.
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