Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2006 14:24:36 -0600
From: joetaxpayer 
Subject: Re: Usefulness of Credit Monitoring Service 
Newsgroups: misc.invest.financial-plan
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BRH wrote:
> I then asked the Customer Service Rep whether Equifax would notify 
> Experian and TransUnion of what happened with this card for me, since 
> "Identity Theft Protection Services" is supposed to also be included in 
> my coverage.  The answer was NO.  So, I asked the rep exactly what my 
> $100/year is paying for-- No prompt notification of suspected fraudulent 
> charges, and no help with covering the bases on Identity Theft.  

In theory, they are supposed to notify you of any attempt to access your 
file when inquiries are made for the purpose of opening a new credit 
line. The words 'identity theft' are misused (as are many words such as 
'saving', 'investment', and 'is') Any instance of someone using someone 
else's card or account is considered identity theft. This number 
approaches millions of instances per year, I believe. Yet, true identity 
theft which I thought was properly defined as "the opening of new credit 
accounts under another person's name" and not an instance of the use of 
an established account.

You can understand that any employee of any store where you use you 
credit card can take the number and attempt unauthorized charges. This 
is different than someone proactively opening an account in your name.
You can insist that the three reporting agencies put a block on your 
account. This would permanently freeze anyone's access to you 
information and history for the purpose of opening a new line of credit. 
You would have to lift the hold if you were in the market for a mortgage 
or wanted to get a new credit card. The agencies don't like this as it 
cuts into their business. Not too long ago, the Boston Globe, in a 
remarkable case of "well, excuuuuse me*" printed the names and credit 
card numbers of all their subscribers on computer paper. They then 
wrapped the Sunday papers with the printouts and sent the papers out. 
Within two days, a co-worker of mine was told that nearly $10,000 in 
charges was made overseas on the account. Me, I had used a virtual 
number, the limit on the number was the annual subscription fee, so the 
account had zero credit available and no chance for going over. I use 
the virtual number for all online or phone transactions.

As another poster stated, you can get the free report at 
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp
every year. But since there are 3, you should cycle through every 4 
months. My wife and I stagger the requests so we are two months out of 
sync with each other, getting a report every two months.

JOE

*I hope the Steve Martin routine reference was understood here.