Re: How do I put a LOCK on my SSN to not open any more credit cards?

Hi All,

Thanks so much for all of the responses. I have a question: I am in
the middle of closing on a home right now -- in the final stages of
loan commitment letter and whatnot. If I place some sort of fraud
alert on my credit, does anyone know if that will negatively impact
their decision (or my credit score!) in any way??


Kyle


trinidadbongo wrote:
In article <6n7cf2pirntfbfqiqbsufqhgu3apubpp1j@xxxxxxx>,
The Etobian <pdc@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:08:32 -0400, "Mike T." <noway@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:


Call the three major credit reporting companies and put a fraud alert on
your credit file. It will be good for a while, unless you follow it up with
a letter stating that you want it PERMANENT. What the fraud alert does is,
nobody can issue you any credit without calling you and getting
authorization from you first. As long as you've got the right phone number
listed in the file then, you are all set. -Dave

Not quite. A fraud alert is an advisory placed on your credit report.
The prospective creditor is not prevented from ignoring it if it so
wishes.

Agreed, but contractually, ignoring the alert will bind the lender to
any losses he suffers and will relieve the ID theft victim from yet
another attempt to collect from him.

In my case, the merchants will have to eat the loss because they
accepted my stolen card account information without verifying the
buyer's identification. This is common among Internet sales.

My problems will start if any of the merchants decide that I am
responsible for the purchases, despite the evidence against that
possibility. They can (and some likely will) start collections
procedures against me, eventually culminating in a civil complaint. Even
if they believe that I am not responsible for the fraudulent charges,
they still might sue because they might win by default and be able to
collect a judgement to satisfy at least part of their loss.

This is exactly why it is so important for ID theft victims to keep
meticulous records and documentation of the theft, the response and all
other information, no matter how seemingly trivial. The potential for
pecuniary loss and civil abuse after victimization is staggering.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Steps to Stop ID Theft
    ... Kris Baker wrote: ... bureaus to place a fraud alert on your credit file. ...
    (alt.marketing.online.ebay)
  • Re: My passport will expire
    ... Place "fraud alert" on your credit file with all credit reporting ... If you gave out credit card and/or bank account info, ... In order to understand recursion you must first understand recursion. ...
    (misc.consumers)
  • Re: Steps to Stop ID Theft
    ... bureaus to place a fraud alert on your credit file. ... Experian claims that they will further alert ...
    (alt.marketing.online.ebay)
  • Re: How do I put a LOCK on my SSN to not open any more credit cards?
    ... "The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you specific rights when you ... are, or believe that you are, the victim of identity theft. ... You may place a fraud alert in your ... file by calling just one of the three nationwide consumer reporting ...
    (misc.consumers)
  • ID Security Company Finds Snags in Fraud Alert System
    ... credit reporting agencies beg to differ. ... a spokesman for the Consumer Data Industry ... The fraud alert response system is working as it should, ...
    (comp.dcom.telecom)