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Credit Industry Opposes Anti-ID Theft Method
athloi alerts us to an opinion piece running in USA Today on the backlash against an effective tool to fight identity theft. The big three credit bureaus don't like the numerous state laws that have been passed requiring them to give consumers a simple way to freeze their credit. Watch for a push at the federal level to get a watered-down statute that pre-empts state laws. "Lawmakers across the country — pushed by consumer advocacy groups — ... have passed laws that allow consumers to freeze their credit, a surefire way to prevent thieves from opening new accounts or obtaining a mortgage in a consumer's name. Under a freeze, a consumer cuts off all access to his credit report and score, even his own. All lenders require that information, so no one can borrow money in the consumer's name until he or she lifts the freeze. It's simple, and it works. So, of course, it's under threat from the Consumer Data Industry Association, which represents the Big Three credit bureaus. They make millions gathering and selling consumer data. Freezes cut into that business."
I still don't understand why this is even necessary.
How about this: Any lender that opens a line of credit must PROVE that the person they say they opened it for actually opened it.
That doesn't mean you can just say, "Well, I have this social security number, date of birth, and a name - that's enough right?"
I'm talking "You want credit? Let me get you to fill out this application and have it notarized. Otherwise, no credit for you."
Anyone lender who can't PROVE they have the persons permission CAN NOT LEGALLY post any negative credit information anywhere and can not try to collect on any debts supposedly owed.
Does anyone really think it is ok to just allow lenders to defame the name and credit history of anyone unlucky enough to have their SSN stolen?
The blame for stolen identities falls SQUARELY in the hands of those who allow those stolen identities to be used.
Perhaps I am misunderstanding the situation, but I have a question. Presumably, the idea behind the credit freeze is to stop those who have stolen your identity from doing naughty things with it. However, if the would-be thief has the wherewithal to abscond with thousands of dollars under your name, would this same thief not also have the ability to remove the freeze?
Thief: I would like to borrow $100,000 from Knave's account please.
Clueless Customer Rep: Sorry sir, Knave has put a freeze on the account.
Thief: I see...
(4 minutes later, with a different clueless customer rep)
Thief: Knave here, I would like to remove the freeze on my account, I'm buying myself a sweet car.
Clueless Customer Rep: Very good sir, freeze ovah.
Thief: Thanks!
What am I missing?
True case in point: My sister worked for a bank that did mortgage and consumer lending. When they pulled an applicant's credit record, that record includes everyone else who has also accessed that credit record. Although it should be illegal, they would use any reason possible to turn down someone who had recent hits on their credit reports because they didn't want to deal with customers who might be "shopping around for the best credit deal." In this circumstance, totally irrelevant credit data -- i.e. who else had accessed your credit record recently -- was used against you.
These bastards have to go down!
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
An alternative method to effectively freezing your credit is to max out all of your 8 credit cards. It generally works in all states, though your mileage may vary.
eh? my car loan is at something like 2.9%. the return on my investments is about 13%. i only buy stuff on credit that i can afford. that is, pay off tomorrow. so i could either earn 13% compounding interest on what i would have paid outright for my car, or pay cash for the car and save the 2.9% in interest on the price of the car and lose out on the 13% interest on investing that money instead? make sense? your statement makes little sense.
now, if someone has all of their credits cards maxed out, pays the min and opens more, that is a problem. credit is a tool to be used properly. i paid cash for my first vehicle, 300$ bmw motorcycle at 14. delivered papers since about 10. south dakota has an early driving age. got a better paying food service job at 16. i bought my first car at 17 (tr7 ragtop used, cheap yet nice) when i had more than enough to cover it in savings / investments. i got a loan for the car. came out ahead. i guess growing up poor in a rural area can do something for managing money.
always mosh clockwise
Now I'm not arguing right now for anything to be done to stop manipulative advertising...that gets into some murky free speech territory...so don't start that argument. However, you have to admit you are a bit shady if you use manipulative advertising and try your damndest to take money from stupid people by taking advantage of their stupidity. It may be the law of the jungle, and a sucker is born every minute, blah blah blah, but you certainly can't legitimately claim you are standing on any kind of moral ground when you do a thing like that, according to any socially accepted definition of the word 'moral.'
And here is where I go ad hominem as an expression of a personal hypothesis I can't prove: I think you are probably a really annoying asshole in real life, and I'm sorry for the people you work with, and who may be a client of yours (if you are in a position to have clients). (now, respond with an accusation of cowardice because I posted as AC, or pick on grammatical structure, because that's what people like you do)
The you must be reading the wrong credit boards, because the people that know what they are doing are just waiting on the edge of their seat for companies to not follow proper procedure for debt validation and verification. If proper procedures aren't followed, there's easy money to be had.
The problem isn't that consumers don't have appropriate protections and recourse, its that consumers aren't aware of the laws they are protected by, and then when everyone around them starts saying "your screwed...theres nothing you can do", they tend to just assume everyone is right and then they suck it up and live with the consequences.
The bad news is that there are fees involved. I don't care if the fee is even $1
Well, you know, if you say had an attache case in your car that had a copy of your taxes. Then suddenly you had to go inside the house for a minute. Then you come back out and the bag is gone, voila, you're a victim of identity theft. All you need is a police report that describes said events.
Of course, I'm not advocating filing a false police report because that is a crime.
Of course, the corollary to that is if the minimum set of laws that are provided aren't to your liking, there's proportionally less you can do about it. Which is the argument for the strongest governance being at the smallest level. If your city council screws you on whether you're allowed to put solar panels on your roof or a windmill in your back yard (because they're eyesores), you can directly agitate for rule change and represent an almost-significant number of votes. Failing that, you can move outside city limits, which will involve the turmoil of moving, but you can most likely keep the same job, the same social network, and the same pastimes.
If your county board screws you on whether you're allowed to put solar panels on your roof or a windmill in your back yard (because of zoning), you can try to run for office, or you can try to drum up a couple thousand other voters to lobby for change. Failing that, you can move outside the county. This will involve the turmoil of moving, it may be impractical to keep the same job, you can probably maintain largely the same social network and the same pastimes.
If your state legislature screws you on whether you're allowed to put solar panels on your roof or a windmill in your back yard (because the Dept. of Natural Resources is concerned it will ruin bird habitats), you can work to drum up a couple dozen thousand other voters to lobby for change. Failing that, you can move outside the state. Now you're moving, getting a new job, new friends, and a new pastime.
If the fed.gov screws you on whether you're allowed to put solar panels on your roof or a windmill in your back yard (because the National Coalition Of Power Companies lobbied to make it illegal), you can work to drum up a few million other voters to lobby for change. Failing that, you can move to Canada, where you won't have a job, your friends will speak French, and you'll have to take up hockey. (To Canadians: I kid, of course)
Besides, while it might be true that getting the asshat majority is easier with smaller voting populations, it's also true that it's much, much cheaper for lobbying groups to work at the federal level than it is for them to work at all the local levels. So you're far more likely to see a gross distortion of the "will of the people" in favor of the "will of the industry groups."
Reality has a conservative bias: it conserves mass, energy, momentum...
This got an insightful mod? Give me a fucking break. Yes, I've been on /. for four years, have over 2,000 posts and good karma but I'm trying to provide a link so I can scam people's personal information! That must be it!
You don't trust the site I linked? Go look at this one from the FTC then. It gives you a number (888-5-OPTOUT) to call if you'd rather do that then fill out the online form. It also links to a website, which is (surprise, surprise) the same one that I provided.
Unless you think the FTC is providing you with a link to a phishing site I really don't see what the problem is.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
If you are a victim of identity theft you will have a flag on your credit possibly forever. It is best to just avoid it and pay the fee, you would otherwise end up paying more if you ever want a loan.
unzip; strip; touch; finger; mount; fsck; more; yes; unmount; sleep
Thank you for promoting my journal. It's clear that I'm being swarmed by trolls... similar to this.
For all we know you're Pudge, you're posting AC, and you can't handle it when someone else posts the truth of matters which you profit from.
the NPG electrode was replaced with carbon blac
My significant other and I just bought our first furniture set this past weekend. We got approved from HSBC for the in store financing. We had to talk to the HSBC representative in the store over the phone to verify us. The questions surprised us. We were asked "what city does your brother live in?" and they gave us a list of four cities to choose from. The next one way, "At what company did your father work for last". Then she got questions about her step dad. I asked what my family members are doing on my credit report and was told "We compile information from a variety of public information stores". Keep in mind I haven't talked to my brother in years and had no idea where he was, but guessed based on where he went to college, and my S.O. hasn't spoken to her step dad in decades. So if you think the informaiton web is only for you, wrong. The web is growing and includes people you know too. Truly scary how interconnected these new data bases are. I figure they are using a service like LexisNexus or some such to group credit users. Much like the US Govt uses these databases to keep tabs on terrorists and their associates.
the NPG electrode was replaced with carbon blac
Amen. When we started our business 2 years ago, money from banks was impossible. We ended borrowing a lot less from a couple of friends, which ended up as a blessing in disguise, as we paid them both off within 9 months and thus made the business free and clear something like 18 months ahead of when it would have been had we been paying the vig to the bank. Best part is that it really helped instill a real hardcore no frills attitude which just made us successful that much faster.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!