Three Myths about Identity Theft and Families
dan tynan on Feb 03 2008 at 10:56 am | Filed under: Family Circle, Identity Theft, Privacy
(Originally published in the February 2008 issue of Family Circle magazine.)
Myth #1: You should order credit reports on your kids, just to be safe. Not necessarily, says Linda Foley, executive director of the Identity Theft Resource Center. Request a report only if you have reason to believe your child’s identity has been stolen — ideally, you will be told it’s unavailable, which means his or her ID is probably safe. Otherwise, asking for a report may prompt the bureaus to create one, making it harder to convince creditors your child is not an adult if his or her identity gets stolen later. If you send an e-mail to childidtheft@transunion.com, they can tell you whether a report exists without creating one, Foley says.
Myth #2: You need to pay for credit monitoring services. Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion will gladly bill you $10 a month to monitor your account, but you can do the same thing for free with a little effort, says Beth Givens, founder and director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. You can request a free credit report from each agency within any 12-month span at AnnualCreditReport.com. Order one from a different bureau every three months and you’ll be covered at no charge.
Myth #3: You can freeze your credit only after your identity has been stolen. A credit freeze will keep anyone — including you — from opening a new account in your name. It’s the ultimate weapon against ID theft, but you don’t have to be a victim to get one. At press time 39 states and Washington, D.C., allowed citizens to freeze their credit for a nominal fee (usually $10 to $20, or free for ID theft victims); in the remaining 11, you may request a freeze from one of the three credit bureaus. You may also have to pay fees to “thaw” or remove the freeze when you want to add new accounts. For more info, visit Consumers Union’s site on Credit Freezes. – D. T.
