Anyone else get a letter from OPM about the data breach? I know at least 3 people in the neighborhood that were affected and this makes my third breach in 2015.  Every time I am notified about a breach I am offered ID monitoring services but I decided today to go further and request a credit freeze.  This prevents stores and credit card companies from reviewing your credit information without your permission.

The normal ID monitoring and protection services you are offered for free all kick in AFTER some has tried (or succeeded in) using your information. But a credit freeze PREVENTS someone from using your information in the first place.  So even if fraudsters get your personal info they won’t be able to use it, because no one will open a new account without reviewing your credit history.

And the cost is only a one-time payment of $10 to each of the three credit bureaus.  This price is mandated by law or it would certainly cost more.  You also have to go through a different process for each credit bureau to put them in place.  Then each credit bureau will give you a PIN that you can use to ‘unfreeze’ the account when you need a loan or want to open a new credit account.  That may seem like a hassle, but I like it much better than paying $12 a month for ever, and it is more effective.

Here are the links if you decide to freeze your accounts:
TransUnion
Experian
Equifax

And this is the article that convinced me that the freeze route was the way to go.

Also, everyone is entitled to get one free credit report each year, directly from these three bureaus. But make sure you use the official site that the Bureaus have jointly set up to provide this information.  Don’t confuse this site with the ones promoted in ads and commercials.  You can request all three reports at once or stagger them by requesting one every four months to keep on top of any changes.