A new Georgia State law went into effect Aug.1, which allows residents to freeze their credit records. With the new state law more than 40 states have enacted a statute that allows customers to block businesses and others from looking at their credit record without permission. This should act as a deterrent to identity thieves who use this information to obtain fraudulent credit cards, mortgages and other types of loans.
Fees for freezing and unfreezing credit records will be $3.00. For people over 65 the service is free. The law requires the credit bureau to lift the freeze within 15 minutes after a customer calls in the request to buy big ticket items such as cars, TV's and so on. Will Phillips who lobbied for years to get the law passed said." There are still obstacles that could limit how many people take advantage of the service. Besides the expense, people have to send a separate request and pay the fee to each of the credit bureaus; Experian, TransUnion and Atlanta based Equifax."
AARP plans to do what it can to make people aware of the credit freeze service and how to use it. Volunteers will cover the state to distribute information through the AARP chapters, Kiwanis and other groups.
According to the Federal Trade Commission's Identity Theft Clearing House, about 15 percent of identity thefts involve new account fraud. Most of these thefts result from using lost wallets and credit cards or stolen check books.
Following are the freeze request contacts;
Equifax; Equifax Security Freeze, P.O. Box 105788, Atlanta, Ga.30348: 1-800-685-111, www.equifax.com
Experian; Experian Security Freeze, P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013: 1-888-397-3742, www.experian.com (look for” security freeze” link)
TransUnion; TransUnion Security Freeze, P.O. Box6790 Fullerton, CA 92834: 1-888-909-8872: www.transunion.com (look for "security freeze" link under "identity theft" on the home page.)
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