Law allows Nebraskans to freeze credit info
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By NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star
A new state law that allows Nebraskans to freeze the information on their credit reports will help people avoid identity fraud, said Jaimee Napp, executive director of Identity Theft Action Council of Nebraska.
“It stops identity thieves cold,” she said.
The freeze gives individuals control over who views their credit information so someone else cannot secure credit in their name, Napp, herself a victim of identity theft, said during a Thursday news conference.
You can put a freeze on your credit information by sending a certified letter requesting the freeze to each of the three major national credit reporting agencies.
1) Equifax Security Freeze
P.O. Box 105788
Atlanta, GA 30348
2) Experian Security Freeze
P.O. Box 9554
Allen, TX 75013
3) Trans Union Security Freeze
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834-6790
Lift the freeze
You can lift the freeze temporarily to apply for a loan or new credit card by using your four-digit password. You can also lift it permanently.
Putting on a freeze costs $15 per reporting agency, or $45 for the three. It is free to minors and victims of identity theft who provide a police report. And lifting the freeze is free.
The freeze remains in effect for seven years.
More information
Information about Nebraska’s credit information freeze is available at these Web sites:
Identity Theft Action Council: www.idtheftne.org
AARP: www.aarp.org/ne
Attorney General Jon Bruning: www.ago.state.ne.us
You can call the state’s consumer protection hotline, 1-800-727-6432, and leave your name and telephone number.
A freeze means a consumer’s credit file cannot be shared with potential creditors without their express authorization, helping to reduce instances of new account fraud.
The law also has another potential benefit. It allows parents to have more control over the credit card habits of minor children.
Most people think identities are stolen when people get credit card information from your trash. That can and does happen, said Annette Harmon of Seward.
But Harmon said her ex-husband stole the identity of her two children to use “for his own personal gain.”
He knew all the information required to obtain credit — Social Security numbers, birth dates, mother’s maiden name, she said. He didn’t have to steal it from the trash.
But a credit information freeze could have provided some protection, she said.
Parents can put a freeze on credit information of their minor children, thus protecting them from identity theft.
And if only the parents know the password that unlocks the information, then minor children cannot obtain credit cards or additional credit cards.
Nebraska will join 38 other states in offering the ability to freeze credit information on Sept. 1, the day the new law takes effect.
Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.
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