Posted on 05/30/2006 3:55:36 PM PDT by Libloather
State tries to help vets at risk of identity theft
Friday, May 26, 2006
By Richard M. Barron
STAFF WRITER
North Carolina's attorney general wants to make it easier for veterans to protect themselves against potential identity theft.
Roy Cooper has asked the legislature to change state law to make it free for veterans to place a security freeze on their credit reports, days after the Department of Veterans Affairs said millions of its records were stolen.
It now costs $10 per credit agency to put a freeze on reports, which essentially places a padlock on an account. It costs another $10 to release information from an account, which could amount to $60 for accounts at all three credit bureaus.
"I don't think that the veterans should have to pay for any errors that have occurred over which they have no control," said William F. Black, a retired Greensboro banker who served in the Navy during the Korean War era. "I think that's a penalty that they should never have to pay. It's punitive and it's not their fault."
The VA said Monday that the personal records of 26.5 million veterans were stolen from the home of a VA employee. The 2000 Census said that about 120,000 veterans live in the Triad.
Rob Thompson, a consumer advocate with the N.C. Public Interest Research Group, said the legislation has sponsors in the House and Senate and could be voted on within days.
North Carolina is one of 13 states that allow residents to freeze their credit accounts at the three major credit bureaus, Thompson said.
Victims of identity theft have free use of the service, but a fee applies to anybody who uses the service as prevention, such as when a wallet is stolen.
Now that millions of veterans are vulnerable, Cooper said they should all act quickly to freeze their credit.
Even $30 could be a hardship, though.
"Some of them are living on moderate incomes," said Black. "They've given enough they don't have to have it piled on them."
Brian Sowers, a Marine Corps veteran in Greensboro whose son is a Marine fighting in Iraq, said, "if a government entity screwed it up in the first place, it would seem silly to pay to kind of get out of jail."
Here's how freezing credit works: The owner of the accounts gets a personal identity number that prohibits anybody but the owner from getting access to credit accounts.
"It's like putting a virtual master lock on your identity," Thompson said.
Thompson said that because the data could be lost for years, veterans could rack up hundreds of dollars in fees if they have to pay every time they lock and unlock accounts to release information.
"It adds up," he said.
Still, Black and other veterans are uneasy about the situation.
"It concerns me that any private information is available to someone that might be able to use it to their advantage to benefit illegally," Black said.
But Sowers said identity theft is always a worry and the latest threat is just one of many.
"God only knows what's going on out there that we don't know about. It obviously gets your attention that we're all vulnerable," he said, "but I'm not going to start losing any more sleep than I did last night over it."
Contact Richard M. Barron at 373-7371 or dbarron@news-record.com
The N.C. Public Interest Research Group offers similar information at ncpirg.org. The three credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian and Trans Union.
You can have a fraud alert put on your account by calling Experion who notifies the other two companies and it's FREE.
BIG DEAL !
The problem is the three main Credit Reporting Bureau's (TransUnion, Equifax and Experian) own the process, and it's not setup to favor the consumer. A "Credit Watch" on your account is only good for 90 days.
Do you really believe that once the person that stole the laptop realizes what information they have, and it starts to be sold and/or passed around the internet, that the problem is only going to exist for 90 days? NO! Once your personal information has been exposed (Name, Date of Birth, SSN) that information has been compromised FOREVER. There is nothing one can do to change/replace it like a lost credit card.
What is worse, with the exception of about 10 states that have passed specific laws, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR AN INDIVIDUAL TO HAVE THEIR CREDIT INFORMATION FROZEN until AFTER they have become a victim of Identity Theft or credit theft/fraud. That process does not favor the consumer! Every person should be able to FREEZE their own personal credit information/history for any reason they wish. Period.
The entire credit reporting system in this country is disgusting. Period. In a decent world it would be illegal. I loathe everything about it. Make a payment on a bill three days late and it is instantly put on your credit report for years. But if something negative is on your report because of someone else's mistake you need an act of God to get it taken off. How the hell is this crap legal?
I am so pissed that all of my information is now forever available on the black market to the highest bidder. Like you said, this information has been compromised forever. There is not even so much as an apology from our increasingly incompetent government. And I sure as hell don't think that I should have to pay to have my credit monitored for fraud for the rest of my life.
The government sticks it to the peasants yet again.
B.O.H.I.C.A.
FreeCreditReport.com has this on the homepage -
ConsumerInfo.com and Freecreditreport.com are not affiliated with the annual free credit report program. Under a new Federal law, you have the right to receive a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies. To request your free annual report under that law, you must go to www.annualcreditreport.com.
I went to annualcreditreport.com. They have a phone number - 1-877-322-8228. I called. It's a fully automated system. If you try this service, it maybe easier to call from your residence - house or apartment - where you've been for a few years and have an established phone number. After calling that number, they use your phone number to fill in most of your info based on their caller ID system.
You'll have an option to get a free report from one or all three companies - Experian, Equifax & Transunion. The nice computer lady told me the reports should arrive within 15 days...
Bump list of related
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1636391/posts
Key Data on Millions of Veterans Stolen!
"The entire credit reporting system in this country is disgusting."
Actually, it is probably worse than you imagine.
Veterans will now, out of necessity, be subject to a higher level of scrutiny than other people when it comes to credit. This could easily translate into less favorable credit terms for veterans.
When you start seeing questions like "Have you ever served in the Armed Forces?" on credit applications, you'll know why.......
Thanks for the ping!
thanks for that. it was more informative than the silly VA letter I got.
A couple of years ago, I signed up with www.MYFICO.com
Considering how many transactions I do from country to country I wanted an identity protection plan. I pay about $7 per month, for which I get monthly alerts that my identity has not been compromised and an updated credit review each quarter.
Thank you. I will share this with others.
Thanks for the ping!
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