Identity Theft
 

My parents recently forwarded a piece of mail sent to me from a university that I applied to but never attended. Apparently they had a few desktops stolen that contained personal information on them and were warning individuals about the possibility of identity theft.

They recommended that I put a fraud alert on my credit file with the three credit reporting agencies. Has anyone done this before? We will be moving in a few months and with that comes numerous credit checks from landlords, power companies, etc. Could having a fraud alert cause some problems there?

Also, why in the heck would a university I never attended keep my information on file for more than 12 years? What is that about?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

serves you right for applying to a school besides BYU.

Rest assured. I never applied to the U.

Yes, it could cause problems I think. They have to jump thru an extra hoop to do a credit check. I put a fraud alert on after I lost my driver's license in an office depot (left it on the xerox machine when making a copy of it). I think you just call one of the agencies.

there's your first problem..

You just call the agencies and it's all done via an automatic menu. The phone numbers are available online. IIRC the names are equifax, experian, and I can't remember the 3rd (Transunion?).

I did it when my wallet was stolen. Basically, anytime somebody tries to take out a loan using your name the institution offering the loan has to call you at your home phone to make sure it is really you. Well worth doing imo.

• Equifax 1-800-685-1111
• TransUnion - 800-916-8800
• Experian - 888-397-3742

TJmaxx just had 45 million credit card numbers stolen.

About 10 years ago I had to notify the three companies about fraud. They each put a 7-year alert on my record. I remember it being a real pain trying to open a checking account, and apply for a cell phone. (This was back when cell phones were not as common and procedural as today). The creditors were estopped from verifying my credit history.

I had to do this too about 1.5 years ago, but it was pretty easy. On the bright side, you probably won't get a lot of junk mail credit card offers. I know that part of the procedure was prohibiting unsolicited credit offers for a temporary amount of time.

That's worth it right there.