I just keep my credit limit really low on my credit card. They used to keep raising it "Congratulations! You've earned..." and I finally called them and told them to stop touching my credit limit, it was low because I wanted to keep it that way.

So basically - I'm "under the radar." We have very few "investment" assets that ping our credit rating at all, we don't have a mortgage or any outstanding loans that we're paying on. So we basically fly under the "scammer radar." They're not interested in us, because they know we don't have enough credit to cover their scams. They'd probably be turned down if they tried to get a new credit card in our name.

Mine has been frozen for about 4 years, ever since a credit card got compromised. I've never regretted freezing them, and sleep better knowing no one is buying houses and cars in my name. There is no reason not to do it.

I have mine frozen and, yes it does help prevent someone from opening a credit card or making an unauthorized purchase in my name

We've had ours locked for 8 years. When we went to buy a car they said we would need to unlock our credit, even though we were paying cash. 😂
I was amazed how quickly the sales manager stated "We can work something out" as we began to leave. 🤣🤣🤣

Yes....we froze all 3 when we had an identity theft hit us. If you need to buy something on credit, just find out when the creditor is doing the check and you can unlock at one they are using for a day or two, then relock. Also you should freeze your social security account.

Dont let the bureaus trick you ...
 

... at least one bureau will describe your acct as unlocked even if it is frozen, Frozen is better than locked.:ohdear:

We have had ours locked for about 10 years. Locked them when the SC Dept of Treasury was hacked when we lived there and kept it that way. I have been asked 3 times since to unlock it and I always ask them which credit bureau and when. When they give me the credit bureau I tell them I will unlock it for 1 day max and they have that time to get what they needed done. Car loan did it while I was waiting, unlocked from my phone, 5 minutes and I locked it back up right from my phone. When I wanted to change Chase Visa cards they wanted it unlocked (go figure...I already had a card with them that I always paid in full) I did that with a woman over the phone....again about 5 minutes. Third time when we needed to open checking accounts with a new bank. Same scenario. Tried to get a Capital One card once and they wanted all 3 opened for a week....told them nope and pulled the application. Now I get "pre-approved" applications from them at least once a week....go figure on that one, too.

How do you delete information once on the dark web??

Freezing your credit reports with at least the three major credit agencies
 

Freezing your credit report with at least the three major credit agencies is the primary step companies like LifeLock take to protect your credit. It is easy to do and free. If you ever need to unfreeze your report each agency can unfreeze it for a limited period of time.

Is it easy and quick to unlock it temporarily?

Also, I understand if you lock it with one of the agencies, it gets locked at all of them. Is this true, and if it is, do you have to unlock it at all of them for a credit check?

Definitely a good idea. I was informed by Equfax and TMobile that my records were exposed by their poor security. I was also informed by my credit card issuer that my social security number was found on the dark web

So I have a credit freeze in place with the 4 largest credit reporting agencies. In theory, this should prevent someone from taking out a loan or opening a bank account in my name

Note: There are more than 20 different credit reporting agencies … So freezing the top 4 does not stop the other 16 …. But the other 16 are much less used and more specialized

Florida is a state that allows your credit score to impact your car insurance rates. If you are shopping for car insurance it is a good idea to unfreeze your credit at the big 3 (equifax, transunion, experian) during the process.

You need to lock/unlock each agency separately. I have found the process to temporarily unlock easy by using the phone automated system. But have had many rejections when trying to use their web interface to unfreeze of one of the companies (i don’t remember which one.

You maybe under the radar, but you are still susceptible, to loan, mortgage and bank fraud. A common fraud is for someone to use your name & social security number to open a bank account in your name using your credit rating. They then are able to take out loans, get credit, or credit cards in your name. They then runoff with the goods and you are stuck with the loans and credit card debt. This is a very common kind of ID theft fraud and has nothing to do with your current credit limits or cards.

Some years ago, someone opened a credit card in my name at Target and bought $5k in products. I never knew it until I got a bill from Target. After fighting with Target, filing reports with FTC and BBB, I finally froze my credit so no more cards could be opened in my name. I only wish it could be permanent.

Freeze your Credit with all 4 Credit Reporting agencies. The fourth is Innovis. I believe all 4 are still free. Most U.S. consumer credit information is collected and kept by the four national traditional consumer reporting agencies: Experian (formerly TRW Information Systems & Services and the CCN Group), Equifax, TransUnion, and Innovis (which was purchased from First Data Corporation in 1999 by CBC Companies).