What would happen if you only requested a credit freeze with 2 of the 3 credit agencies?

April 23, 2009 7:54 PM

What would happen if I put a credit freeze with two of the reporting agencies but not with the other one? If someone stole my identity would they still be able to open new accounts under my name? Also, theoretically speaking what would happen if an ID thief preemptively froze your credit essentially locking you out?

I'm planning on freeze all three of course. I'm just curious and the fact that Equifax doesn't let you setup a credit freeze online or through the phone while the other two agencies allow you to makes me a bit angry.

posted by anonymous to computers & internet (6 answers total)

My understanding is that it's pretty much just random which agencies are used by what creditors.
posted by delmoi at 8:01 PM on April 23, 2009

Do you mean two of the following three:

Equifax
Experian
TransUnion

I have had to put alerts on my credit twice in the last four years, mostly because places I've shopped at were compromised and their history looted. My experience in both cases was that calling one and putting an alert on your credit would mean that all three agencies would be alerted. They share their info in this sense. Both times I was informed when putting on the hold 6-month alert would spread the alert to the other two.
posted by eatdonuts at 8:14 PM on April 23, 2009 [1 favorite]

ditto to eatdonuts. If you're talking about a credit alert I don't believe you're able to add it to one and not the rest because they share the addition pretty much immediately.

The alert doesn't "lock you out", it just adds additional steps each time a credit check is made.
posted by devbrain at 9:44 PM on April 23, 2009

I believe he is talking about freezing your credit as in no one can request a credit report and thus no one can open any bank accounts (few banks will open a line of credit without a credit report).
posted by EvilKenji at 12:34 AM on April 24, 2009

I can speak to this, as my credit is frozen at two out of three agencies (compromised data a few years back) because...actually, I'm not sure why I forgot to freeze the third, but put it down to absent-minded professordom. In any event, my report is still available from the unfrozen account, but is locked down to everyone (myself included) at the other two.
posted by thomas j wise at 2:47 AM on April 24, 2009

thomas j wise: I remember that one of the three is more difficult to do than the others. You had to send in some paperwork, whereas the other two allow you to do it online, which is what I did.
posted by odinsdream at 7:10 AM on April 24, 2009