[marsupial]

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.