Credit Report Monitoring?

[MickeyMom2Boys]

Not sure if this is the best place to post, but I just requested our annual credit reports and while our scores are pretty good, I am seeing a lot of unauthorized inquiries from various credit cards, etc. Does anyone know of a good monitoring program or a way to prevent theses companies from viewing your credit report and pre-approving credit card offers, etc.?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

[kayla87]

Not sure how budget friendly it really is, but DH has Lifelock. It puts fraud alerts on your accounts, which prevents those kind of outside companies from looking at your credit to pre-approve you. We stopped getting Capital One offers after he signed up

Also, I don't really know, but you may be able to do that sort of thing yourself. But they expire after a while, so you would have to keep on top of it.

 

[butiflfeet]

The 3 major credit bureaus do allow you to opt out of the pre-screened offers.
Go to http://www.optoutprescreen.com you can have your credit reports removed from the pre-screened offers from banks for 5 years.

This is a website set up by the credit bureaus so it is secure and it does work. I went through this website for DH and myself 3 years ago and after about a month the offers tapered off and stopped completely. This service is free too. You will not need to enter any payment information at all.

Please know though, the pre-approved offers are considered 'soft' inquiries so they do not count against you when your credit scores are compiled. Only the 'hard' inquiries or the ones where you want the credit and actually submit an application will count against your score if there are too many of them in a short period of time (credit inquiries usually stay on your report for 2 years).

 

[minnie1928]

The 3 major credit bureaus do allow you to opt out of the pre-screened offers.
Go to http://www.optoutprescreen.com you can have your credit reports removed from the pre-screened offers from banks for 5 years.

This is a website set up by the credit bureaus so it is secure and it does work. I went through this website for DH and myself 3 years ago and after about a month the offers tapered off and stopped completely. This service is free too. You will not need to enter any payment information at all.

I highly recommend signing up through this website. The CC offers will stop, you'll have less mail to sort and later pitch which will save you time (priceless!).

 

[SandrA9810]

you can request your credit as often as you want in a 30 day period, with only one making the effect. That's why if you're looking at financing something like a house or car, it's best to look at banks all within the same month as to not hurt your credit too much.
You requesting your own score each year will not hurt you either.
Neither will being pre-screened. It's just really annoying to see on your report and in your mail box. But at the bottom of every pre-screen offer is a phone number or address to send a letter to opt out of pre-screen offers.

 

[joellyn23]

I highly recommend signing up through this website. The CC offers will stop, you'll have less mail to sort and later pitch which will save you time (priceless!).

Did you give your SS# and DOB? I'm worried about giving these out. I'd love to reduce the amount of junk mail we receive though....

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Many people get unauthorized credit inquiries.
2) You can put a halt to this - immediately.
. . . contact the three credit bureaus
. . . request a block on your file
. . . no one can get a credit report without your written permission
. . . no one
. . . this costs about $10 per bureau

3) You must write a request anytime you want some to have a report
4) You must also write to have the block removed.

 

[thomas998]

Not sure how budget friendly it really is, but DH has Lifelock. It puts fraud alerts on your accounts, which prevents those kind of outside companies from looking at your credit to pre-approve you. We stopped getting Capital One offers after he signed up

Also, I don't really know, but you may be able to do that sort of thing yourself. But they expire after a while, so you would have to keep on top of it.

While Lifelock may be an honest company... the undisputible fact is that the founder of the company Robert Maynard had some issue in his past that included three bankruptcies, a short stint in jail and 1996 Federal Trade Commission charges of false advertising. While Maynard finally resigned after his past started to surface. I would think very long and hard before signing up with a company that appears to have been started by a con-artist.

 

[butiflfeet]

Did you give your SS# and DOB? I'm worried about giving these out. I'd love to reduce the amount of junk mail we receive though....

You do need to provide this info because that is how the credit bureaus identify you and connect you to your report. The site is secured and deals directly with the 3 credit bureaus.

1) Many people get unauthorized credit inquiries.
2) You can put a halt to this - immediately.
. . . contact the three credit bureaus
. . . request a block on your file
. . . no one can get a credit report without your written permission
. . . no one
. . . this costs about $10 per bureau

3) You must write a request anytime you want some to have a report
4) You must also write to have the block removed.

This is great info too. You would do this if you have been victimized by identity theft and there are unauthorized "hard" inquiries on your report (meaning there would also new accounts that have been opened which you are not aware of). The credit bureaus however will require you to also send them a copy of the police report you filed when you first became aware of the identity theft before action can be taken to remove any fraudulent activity from your credit reports.

 

[disneyin2008]

While Lifelock may be an honest company... the undisputible fact is that the founder of the company Robert Maynard had some issue in his past that included three bankruptcies, a short stint in jail and 1996 Federal Trade Commission charges of false advertising. While Maynard finally resigned after his past started to surface. I would think very long and hard before signing up with a company that appears to have been started by a con-artist.

I totally agree! And do a google about this company.....this is the one where the owner (or former owner now) posts his social security number on billboards claiming he's not worried about identity theft because he uses his product...well, guess what, he was a victim of identity theft according to several news reports, though he denies it, but the news folks gave a lot of evidence to the contrary.

That website to stop the credit card offers is legit, but you do have to give your name, date of birth, social security.....so while the site is seemingly secure, if you're not comfortable doing that, you can contact the credit bureaus yourself.....in writing and do it by certified mail so you know the mail doesn't fall into the wrong hands. But the website's certificate checks out so it's about as secure as any other online security....if you buy things or bank on line, it's the same strength of security.