Identity Theft: Can I be notified when an account is opened in my name?

Question

Is there a way to be notified if a credit account is opened in your name?

I would imagine there would be some service where you can get an email notification if someone opens an bank, credit card, or mortgage in your name. Kind of like the way you can set you bank account options so you are notified if a withdrawl over a certain amount is made?

Or, is there a way to put a block on any accounts being opened in your name? I would imagine this would work through your social security number.

Anyone know if this is possible?

PS. I have found a website where you can "opt out" of being solicited for credit cards by mail for 5 years, so this protects you a little (since people won't have applications with your information preprinted to steal), but I'm still looking for instant, automatic notification when any kind of account is opened in your name.

Answer 1

Yes - but it is a paid service. check out www.equifax.com they are the largest credit company and they have a pretty well working service. They offer various levels of subscriptions. The most expensive is the one where you monitor all 3 credit files from the major 3 bureaus, equifax, Transunion and Esperian. They will even notify you within 24 hours if a change to your report has happened.

It is peace of mind if you can afford it and want to buy this annual service.
I subscribe to one of those services and they send the alerts via email. You can define the events which you want to be alerted about - like if a new account is opened in your name. But also if there have been activities on closed accounts, credit cards. Or if a $ level on a card or account exceeds a certain threshold. Stuff like that.

Answer 2

In some states you can place a "hold" on your account. Just say you are a victim of identity theft. You will have to make a call before you get any new lines of credit.

Don't waste your money on monitoring services. Be careful but remember that identity theft has been declining the last few years.

Answer 3

I know that once you have gone through ID theft, you are flagged to be prompted for more info or you have to submit things via mail (i.e. you can't just get one of those store cards at the check out). Perhaps this can be done in general. I'm not sure who to speak with, though. Try the credit bureaus.

Generally, companies believe they ARE notifying you of things by sending it to the address they were given by the ID thief. Clearly, however, everything is going to the scammer and there is no way for the company to know that address is not correct.

Answer 4

You would need to set up something through your creidt report. I am on a credit monitoring site (www.truecredit.com) in which I can pull my creidt reports and scores once a day. Its $14.99 a month. It is also set up to send me alerts if anything changes-- a new inquiry, a new account, etc.

Your other option if you want absolutely nothing opened is to request that your credit files be 'frozen' or put on 'fraud alert' so that nothing new can be opened.

Answer 5

Yes. You can ask the three major credit agencies to flag your account to notify you if there is any activity.