Protect Your Identity_Wyoming
Place a security freeze on your personal credit information to prevent identity theft
Source: AARP.org | August 24, 2007
A new law went into effect July 1, allowing Wyoming residents to lock identity thieves out of their personal credit information.
Wyoming residents may now place a "freeze" on their information held by the three major national credit reporting agencies: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. A freeze protects your personal credit information from being used to open a credit account without your knowledge.
"This is one significant way to help prevent identity theft," AARP Wyoming associate director for advocacy Tim Summers said. "It gives Wyoming consumers more control over who has access to their personal credit information and when they can see it."
Most businesses cannot open a new account or extend credit without checking a consumer's credit file first.
"When your credit file is frozen, even someone who has your name and Social Security number will not be able to take out credit in your name without your knowledge," Summers said. "Many of our members told us that they wanted the peace of mind that a 'freeze' can provide."
Placing a freeze costs $10 per credit reporting agency for a total of $30, but is free to identity theft victims who have proper police report documentation. The freeze stays in effect until the consumer decides to lift it, Summers said.
"Consumers may lift the freeze temporarily in order to apply for a loan or new credit card, or they can lift it permanently," he said. If the consumer wants to replace the freeze later, they will have to pay another $10 fee per agency at that time.
"It may sound expensive and cumbersome," Summers said. "But when you compare it to the potential cost and time involved with cleaning up charges wracked up during an identity crime, it's worth it."
Help Is Available
More information about how to sign up for a security freeze, including sample letters to send to each agency, is available by calling the Wyoming Attorney General's Consumer Protection Unit at 1-800-438-5799.
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