Security Freeze Gives NM Consumers Added Protection Against ID Theft
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2007-05-01 14:21:30.978765-04:00
Wanda Morrison of Santa Fe is waiting for the calendar to change to July.
July 1 is the day a new law goes into effect that allows New Mexicans to place a Security Freeze on their financial accounts.
The freeze prevents anyone from opening a new financial account, such as financing a product, opening a bank account or new credit card, under that person's name without his direct authorization. It does not affect existing accounts.
Morrison, an AARP volunteer, has been a victim of identity theft twice and is more than willing to take any steps necessary to protect her finances and prevent becoming a victim again.
"I'm really looking forward to being able to implement a freeze," Morrison said. "It is frightening how easy it is for someone to obtain your personal information and use it in a fraudulent manner. A security freeze will give me one more layer of protection to keep my finances safe."
AARP New Mexico worked closely with Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Bernalillo; Sen. William Sharer, R- San Juan and Attorney General Gary King to get legislation passed in March that allows a security freeze.
"I'm just so grateful to everyone who helped get this bill through," said Clarice Getz, chairwomen of AARP New Mexico's consumer issues committee. "This is really a pro-consumer measure. It is completely voluntary and allows people to take proactive steps to protect their finances rather than having to wait until after they are already a victim of identity theft."
To implement a security freeze, a consumer would call all three of the credit reporting companies, Equifax, Experían and TransUnion. There is a fee of $10 to implement the freeze, which would have to be paid to each reporting agency and a cost of $5 to unfreeze an account. For people age 65 or over or those individuals who are victims of identity theft, there would be no cost to freeze or unfreeze one's accounts.
Getz said that once an account is frozen, unfreezing it might take a little research on the consumer's part.
"The benefit to unfreezing an account is that often a company only uses one or two of the agencies," she said. "For example, if trying to finance a car, the dealership may only use Equifax. Therefore, you only need to contact Equifax to unfreeze your credit report."
Initially, unfreezing an account could take up to three days. However, the legislation requires that by Sept. 7, 2008, unfreezing an account will only take about 15 minutes.
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