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.  

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.