[billethkid]

I got the sales pitch today from one of the credit score companies about why I needed to have their protection to do such things as freeze the account should it become neccessary or to block lenders from accessing the account to check credit scores without permission....etc.

We have managed all these years with no credit score issues ever. I get it they are selling a form of insurance, but is what they are peddaling really needed?

btk

[JourneyOfLife]

Not so far.

We can get a free yearly report from each of the major credit reporting agencies.

In my state, I can do the freeze/unfreeze myself if I need to do it.

I do have a rider on my home owners policy to cover costs related to identity theft just in case it required out of pocket. It costs about $25/yr.

I might use that sort of service if something happened that increased my risk.

[CaptJohn]

I can't see it. Risk is only $50. per card. You can freeze/unfreeze yourself. I think it increases the risk. What if a hacker got into the protection agency accounts. Now they have ALL your cards and info whereas if they just get one card that's all that has to be delt with. I don't put all the eggs in one basket.

[capecodkev]

No, I have Capital One and they constantly are checking my activity and if I see anything, all I have to do is question it and they credit my account until its resolved.

[jnieman]

We have Experian for $7.95 per month. It sends me an update whenever our credit score goes up and down a couple of points on all three credit reports. They also notify me if someone pulls my credit or if there is any activity on my credit report. I have a fraud alert on my credit so that if someone applies for credit in my name that they have to go through several extra steps in order to get it, like calling my cell number. We have been victims of identity theft twice with our debit card. I know a person can be over insured and has to take risks sometimes, but your credit is so hard to repair once it has been fraudulently used. I wouldn't go with anyone that calls you on the phone for any reason, but if you choose to go with a company Experian is a good one. As someone mentioned before you can obtain a copy of your credit report free at www.annualcreditreport.com every year from all three bureaus, but to me a once a year check is just not enough.

[rjm1cc]

Originally Posted by jnieman

We have Experian for $7.95 per month. It sends me an update whenever our credit score goes up and down a couple of points on all three credit reports. They also notify me if someone pulls my credit or if there is any activity on my credit report. I have a fraud alert on my credit so that if someone applies for credit in my name that they have to go through several extra steps in order to get it, like calling my cell number. We have been victims of identity theft twice with our debit card. I know a person can be over insured and has to take risks sometimes, but your credit is so hard to repair once it has been fraudulently used. I wouldn't go with anyone that calls you on the phone for any reason, but if you choose to go with a company Experian is a good one. As someone mentioned before you can obtain a copy of your credit report free at www.annualcreditreport.com every year from all three bureaus, but to me a once a year check is just not enough.

If you had Experian before the identy thefts what did they do to solve the problem?

[jnieman]

They gave us guidance on what steps to take to prevent it from happening again and the second one we caught on the first day it happened and quickly shut down our card because we knew what to watch out for. Primarily I think I like the Experian service the most because of the credit activity monitoring it provides. They send you an e-mail as soon as any activity happens on your credit report. I think the debit card fraud just made us more aware of how often it happens and the bank recommended that we get it.

[angiefox10]

Originally Posted by billethkid

I got the sales pitch today from one of the credit score companies about why I needed to have their protection to do such things as freeze the account should it become neccessary or to block lenders from accessing the account to check credit scores without permission....etc.

We have managed all these years with no credit score issues ever. I get it they are selling a form of insurance, but is what they are peddaling really needed?

btk

You can run your own credit reports every year... There are three major reporting agencies. Run one now, another in three months, and another in the next three months. In this way you can check your credit report for free every three months. If you want to know your score, for a small charge you can obtain your score. Each agency scores differently, so don't be alarmed if the range is more than you would expect. This is a good way to check your credit without paying a company.

You "can" be liable for up to $50.00 on your credit card if you are compromised. There is not much chance that will happen. The companies are very good about clearing the total of the loss.

Depending on your credit card company, you can get emails and/or texts on the spending on a credit card account. I get a daily text so I can see if there is anything going on out of line.

I also have a company that allows me to use a "virtual" card number. I can use it online or just by giving the card number to the vendor. It can only be used once and I can set a MAX amount for the purchase. If anyone tries to use it a second time it will be flagged and I am not responsible for any other charges than what I authorized.

Credit cards in The Villages have been compromised so much in the past the FedEx driver told me he delivered 250 replacement cards on any given week in The Villages. Trust me... none of us had to pay any of those charges and the credit card companies did everything they could to make it as painless a possible.

Credit Card companies are good about catching fraud very quickly! Every time I hear of a card being compromised, the credit card company has caught it before I could!

Now... Just so you know... My background is as a public speaker for financial literacy. My presentation was nominated for the Wisconsin Financial Literacy Award three years in a row. I spoke in five states, and in the state of Wisconsin, one of the Carpenters Unions and one of the Ironworkers Unions would not allow their guys to be certified unless they listened to my presentation. I'm not pulling this out of my back pocket.

[coralway]

The only "real" credit scores are obtained through FICO - that is the score most lenders use to assess your credit worthiness - or lack thereof.

If it's not a FICO scores, it's a FAKO. A few lenders use Vantage - but a vast majority of lenders utilize FICO. FICO scores are NEVER free. There are many, many outfits out there offering "free" scores once a year or something like that. Unfortunately, if you apply for credit those scores are meaningless.

I pull my TransUnion and Equifax FICO's quarterly.