STATE CONSUMERS URGED TO FREEZE CREDIT REPORTS

With fees gone, keep accounts frozen until seeking loan, credit card or job

A Colorado consumer advocacy group is urging consumers to freeze their credit reports until they need a loan, a credit card or are applying for a job after the three major credit bureaus lift fees to do freezes.

CoPIRG, the consumer advocacy group, urged Colorado consumers to immediately freeze their credit reports with the three major credit bureaus after fees to do that were lifted Friday.

And while they are at it, they should also freeze their accounts with a lesser known bureau that cellular providers use.

“Go ahead and do one of the simplest things you can do to protect your identity,” urged Danny Katz, director of CoPIRG, at a news conference in Denver.

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion now allow consumers to freeze or unfreeze their accounts at no charge. Before, it could run $5 to $10 each time someone froze or unfroze an account, although Colorado required the bureaus to provide consumers with one free freeze.

Congress passed the nofee rule in May after a massive breach last year of Equifax’s database that exposed sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, on an estimated 148 million accounts.

Because lenders won’t extend credit when they can’t obtain a credit report, one of the best moves consumers can make is to keep their accounts frozen until they need a loan or credit card or are applying for a job, Katz said.

And while they are at it, consumers should also request the free credit report they are allowed each year with each bureau to make sure someone else hasn’t already set up an account in their name. They can do that at annualcreditreport.com, the only federally authorized site, Katz said.

Although credit cards and loans are what identity thieves commonly target, they are increasingly setting up cellular accounts, pocketing tax refunds and filing for Social Security and medical benefits under other people’s names.

For that reason, CoPIRG also advises consumers to freeze their accounts with the National Consumer Telecommunications & Utilities Exchange, which is used by cellular providers to screen prospective customers.

CoPIRG said a credit freeze should not be confused with a credit lock, which the bureaus market as an alternative. Locks come with terms that are more favorable to the bureaus, and can allow them to resell a consumer’s private information for marketing purposes.

Someone freezing an account will receive with a PIN that needs to be retained to unfreeze an account. It is possible to temporarily lift a freeze for a set period of time, from one day to one year. It takes about 15 minutes, sometimes a little longer, to unfreeze a frozen account after making a request online, Katz said.

Denver resident Meryl Compton wasted no time putting a freeze on her credit reports. Compton had her identification and debit card lifted from her backpack while bike riding in Washington, D.C., last year. Ever since, she has lived in dread of identity theft.

“It makes you realize how vulnerable you are,” she said. “I feel more comfortable now that my information is safe.”

The whole process was easy, she added, and included a few basic questions to verify her identity.

Just out of college, she said she didn’t have a lot of spare funds to freeze and unfreeze her accounts with the various bureaus, but was motivated to do so once the fees lifted.

“It is not something people my age think about or are aware of,” she said. “But if you get your credit trashed at this age, it can be a challenge.”