Downsides to Freezing More Than Just "The Big Three"? Is it Even Worth it?

[KeepItMovin]

Saw a (deleted) Reddit post about downsides to freezing more than just "the big three".

 

However, the initial post was deleted and I'm wondering if anyone has thoughts about this?

 

In the process of it now (which I'm finding out is a challenge with some with TU and Experian frozen) and wondering how deep down the rabbit hole I should go.

 

I want to make sure no one can get credit in my name but don't want to make more work for myself if it isn't necessary.

 

There a link at Clark.com (which I'm not sure I can post here) stating that “You cannot prevent every eventuality and every possibility,” Clark says. “And I’d say if you freeze your credit with Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, you’re going to eliminate more than 95% of the potential of identity fraud and theft.”

 

Is this legit you think or is there value in freezing the smaller / lesser-known ones?

 

Any advice appreciated.  I've done a lot so far and want to be thorough but not freeze ones that won't matter in terms of protecting my credit!

[hdporter]

Count me inexperienced in this area, because I've never been motivated to freeze my credit reports.

 

That said, I'd suggest that if you freeze "the big three", you've likely blocked at least 95% of the viable bandwidth through which someone might fraudulently establish credit in your name.  And, presumably, if a credit approval was achieved, it would involve a lower tier issuer (store card or whatever) and pose far less problematic risk than a fraudulent VISA account.

 

I'm not dismissing any residual risk out of hand.  Each individual chooses their risk tolerance in life; some go to great extremes to protect against any and all risk, some comfort themselves if they have the major risk exposures covered.

[centex]

As a former victim of a substantial dollar amount of losses related to identity theft, I don't see the need to try and freeze all of the small entities.  I had a seven-year alert on the big three and may also have had one on Innovis but only if it was applied automatically.  I did not renew the seven-year if I remember correctly (yeah, it is coming up on 20 years) and found having it was more of a hindrance than a help. 

[Burgerwars]

Agree with the comments above. Unless your some really famous person, or are a target of some sort of major fraud, it's probably not worth it.

[cv91915]

I don't have anything frozen.  
 

I have a bunch of free monitoring services, and any time there is an inquiry or a new account I get 1,100 emails.

[KeepItMovin]

On 5/28/2021 at 7:46 AM, centex said:

As a former victim of a substantial dollar amount of losses related to identity theft, I don't see the need to try and freeze all of the small entities.  I had a seven-year alert on the big three and may also have had one on Innovis but only if it was applied automatically.  I did not renew the seven-year if I remember correctly (yeah, it is coming up on 20 years) and found having it was more of a hindrance than a help. 

 

Thanks for the reply.  I don't understand, though.  Doesn't having a freeze on "the big three" stop would-be thieves from getting accounts in your name?  Can I ask if the alerts failed somehow?  How were they a hindrance?

[TheVig]

There are different schools of thought on this. No really right or wrong answer IMO. 
 

Myself personally, I have a bunch on ice.  Due to what I do for a living, I’m subject to credit checks as part of the background checks that many of our clients require. Many of these are not just one time checks either. Some perform them every two to five years.  Basically employment type inquiries. 
 

Last month I had one of our existing clients call a bunch of us up and ask us to lift our freezes. And of course we tell them to give a date they plan to do the check, and we will unfreeze accordingly. No open ended unfreezes.  PIA for them, if they don’t check on the date they said they would. Lol. 

Couple of years back, the freezes paid off. An employee of one our customers decided to go on an ID theft spree. Not a very good one at that, although he only burned people who didn’t have their stuff on ice. 

He’s now doing time at a federal bed and breakfast. 
 

 

[centex]

On 5/30/2021 at 8:12 AM, KeepItMovin said:

 

Thanks for the reply.  I don't understand, though.  Doesn't having a freeze on "the big three" stop would-be thieves from getting accounts in your name?  Can I ask if the alerts failed somehow?  How were they a hindrance?

My freezes were a closing of the barn door.  However, the nuisances involved in getting new credit were not worth it in my opinion...I got tired of having to fax documents to prove I was me and THEN also jumping through the hoops to satisfy KYC regulations when everything went to the PO Box, including my DL, taxes and even vehicle and voter registrations...

 

Even now, the PO Box is the official address of record...

[althes]

My freezes are permanent only release them when I want something.

I was part of the DOD hack and that was not a good feeling.

 

[KeepItMovin]

On 5/30/2021 at 12:24 PM, TheVig said:

There are different schools of thought on this. No really right or wrong answer IMO. 
 

Myself personally, I have a bunch on ice.
 

Can I ask what you (or anyone else in this thread who would be good enough to share) froze?  I have "the big three", chexsystems, innovis, lexisnexis, nctue, and ars frozen (or in the process of) and am trying to decide if I should keep going.  Hitting roadblocks with some others (core logic which I know has three, clarity, and factor trust which I don't have a record in apparently).

 

I want to do my best here to protect myself with all the scams in the world right now but don't want to create too much hassle moving forward or freezes ones that won't be of benefit).

 

It seems to be a tough balance to strike.

[KeepItMovin]

3 hours ago, althes said:

My freezes are permanent only release them when I want something.

I was part of the DOD hack and that was not a good feeling.

 

Can I ask what your froze?  Was it "the big three" or others as well?

[althes]

It was the big three Lexis, Innovis and a few others.