Investor · Lodi, NJ · Member since 2013 · 487 posts · 179 votes
Does anyone have experience with credit monitoring services as such? I recently had an identity theft issue and am considering options on how to better protect myself..
Any opinions/ thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Once a year, you are entitled to a free copy of your reports from all 3 bureaus - to get them go to www.annualcreditreport.com - you should check it at least once a year to make sure everything is accurate. Now, if you are looking to be more proactive, I recommend Identity Force, they give you access to your reports + scores every 3 months (in addition to the fee annual), and they also send you alerts if someone opens new accounts in your name.
In preparation for making a real estate purchase I signed up for credit monitoring. It cost me $9.95 per month. I received quarterly reports that included my credit standing with all three of the major credit bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion, Experian). Although credit scores used by lenders are calculated in their own way, it was helpful to see how my credit score was fairing with the big three. I worked hard to improve it so I could get the best loan rates. If anyone had tried to mess with my finances, the credit monitoring service would notify me immediately and I would have the advantage of addressing problems before they got out of hand. I dropped the monitoring after I made my real estate purchase. But I still monitor my credit by requesting free credit reports, but only from annualcreditreport.com which I access only through the ftc.gov website, because it is safer that way. Mistyping annualcreditreport.com will take you to bogus sites that will scam you. It is amazing how much misinformation gets data entered and shows up on credit reports, so it is important to look at them and request corrections as needed.
Once a year, you are entitled to a free copy of your reports from all 3 bureaus - to get them go to www.annualcreditreport.com - you should check it at least once a year to make sure everything is accurate. Now, if you are looking to be more proactive, I recommend Identity Force, they give you access to your reports + scores every 3 months (in addition to the fee annual), and they also send you alerts if someone opens new accounts in your name.
You can freeze your credit for free with all 3 reporting agencies where no one can open anything in your name. When you want to apply for credit you can log on and simply unfreeze your credit for a period of time that you choose or to one particular company. It cost $5 to lift a freeze but I believe that fee is waved for victims of identity theft. I think it's a much better way than paying $10 a month to have someone monitor your credit which isn't full proof and you have to read the fine print in those guarantees as they can not cover people in certain states like New York. Attaching links below to all 3 credit unions if you feel to check it out and learn more