Anti-Fraud Tool Helps Freeze Credit Card Crooks
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – With more and more people becoming victims of credit card fraud, one tool is helping prevent crooks from opening credit in your name. The problem is not many people are using it.
"It rejects any new applications for using credit using your information," said ID Theft Network's Neal O'Farrell.
He's talking about a credit freeze which is also called a security freeze.
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Until recently, it was only available to theft victims but now you can freeze your credit before the damage is done.
Simply log on to each of the three credit bureaus, confirm your identify, pay a $10 fee and don't forget your new pin number. You'll need it to thaw and refreeze your account to apply for credit in the future, which can cost another ten dollars per bureau for every freeze and thaw.
So $30 dollars later you can be frozen and protected from crooks.
What about your kids?
Even though studies show kids are more likely to be victimized than their parents, only a handful of states have laws requiring the bureaus let you freeze your child's credit unless they're already a victim of id theft.
That's primarily because most kids don't yet have a credit file to freeze but that doesn't stop crooks from creating one.
"We've seen children as young as 3-years old have their identify stolen," said O'Farrell.
In Florida, parents can freeze a child's credit to protect them from identify theft.
This year, lawmakers passed the Keeping ID Safe Act that allows parents to freeze their children's credit for a $10 fee.
Once a baby has her credit frozen, it can remain that way until she's old enough to apply for credit on her own.
Parents should keep in mind that freezing a child's credit does not prevent other types of identity theft like social security or tax fraud.
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