DOGE Left Everyone’s SSN Exposed

[OlDawg]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

 

[Boyz N Da Hood]

9 minutes ago, OlDawg said:

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

 

Keep an eye on Chuck!! 

[OlDawg]

8 hours ago, Boyz N Da Hood said:

Keep an eye on Chuck!! 

I didn’t post this as a political statement. I posted it to remind everyone how important it is to consider ‘freezing’ your credit at the 3 major agencies. It’s free, easy, and only takes about 15 minutes to complete. About 5 minutes each agency.

You can always easily unfreeze for a single purchase, or a designated time period, and then have it automatically refreeze.

No one can create an account under your name while frozen.

I did this for my wife and I after the massive DoD data leak a few years back. I was glad I had done it when AT&T had their major leak here recently. Since then, my university information has been leaked, and some of my health information among others. It’s just a little peace of mind that’s free, easy, and can be done while drinking a cup of coffee. It’s literally that quick.

[Boyz N Da Hood]

18 minutes ago, OlDawg said:

I didn’t post this as a political statement. I posted it to remind everyone how important it is to consider ‘freezing’ your credit at the 3 major agencies. It’s free, easy, and only takes about 15 minutes to complete. About 5 minutes each agency.

You can always easily unfreeze for a single purchase, or a designated time period, and then have it automatically refreeze.

No one can create an account under your name while frozen.

I did this for my wife and I after the massive DoD data leak a few years back. I was glad I had done it when AT&T had their major leak here recently. Since then, my university information has been leaked, and some of my health information among others. It’s just a little peace of mind that’s free, easy, and can be done while drinking a cup of coffee. It’s literally that quick.

Understood your point, it is politics!

Keep an eye on the whistleblower!

[OlDawg]

Links to the Credit Agencies included below:

What To Know About Credit Freezes
Freezing your credit can help stop identity theft. When a credit freeze is in place, nobody can open a new credit account in your name. There’s no cost to place or lift a credit freeze, and it doesn’t affect your credit score.

You don’t have to wait for your Social Security number or other information to be exposed in a data breach or misused by an identity thief to get a credit freeze. Anyone can do it, any time.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

[thetragichippy]

Banker here.....

    I have not and will not freeze my credit for a couple reasons. The main reason is I have Chase and Capital One that sends me a notice anytime my credit is ran or looked at.  IF I see something, I can dispute immediately and have it removed from my credit.   

    Also, a social alone is really not enough to get past most security features - you would need to match with address, DOB, etc.... 

    Lastly, when applying for a loan, if credit is frozen, you can add a minimum  24-48 hours to get approved. 

[AggiesAreWe]

10 minutes ago, thetragichippy said:

Banker here.....

    I have not and will not freeze my credit for a couple reasons. The main reason is I have Chase and Capital One that sends me a notice anytime my credit is ran or looked at.  IF I see something, I can dispute immediately and have it removed from my credit.   

    Also, a social alone is really not enough to get past most security features - you would need to match with address, DOB, etc.... 

    Lastly, when applying for a loan, if credit is frozen, you can add a minimum  24-48 hours to get approved. 

I will not do a freeze as well.

As for loans, I haven't needed one in 18 years. I buy my vehicles outright. Haven't had a car note in 15 years.

Only note I have is my beach cabin which we purchased 25 years ago. Got two years left before it's paid off.

Own my home in Silsbee, two vehicles, golf cart and trailer.

I am very blessed. 

My apologies to you @thetragichippy and other bankers for not bringing you any business. lol

[OlDawg]

22 minutes ago, thetragichippy said:

Banker here.....

    I have not and will not freeze my credit for a couple reasons. The main reason is I have Chase and Capital One that sends me a notice anytime my credit is ran or looked at.  IF I see something, I can dispute immediately and have it removed from my credit.   

    Also, a social alone is really not enough to get past most security features - you would need to match with address, DOB, etc.... 

    Lastly, when applying for a loan, if credit is frozen, you can add a minimum  24-48 hours to get approved. 

You should read the article. It addresses your second paragraph. As far as the delay on a loan, I’m sure a banker prefers impulse loans to someone having more time to think. Ha!

[thetragichippy]

13 minutes ago, AggiesAreWe said:

I will not do a freeze as well.

As for loans, I haven't needed one in 18 years. I buy my vehicles outright. Haven't had a car note in 15 years.

Only note I have is my beach cabin which we purchased 25 years ago. Got two years left before it's paid off.

Own my home in Silsbee, two vehicles, golf cart and trailer.

I am very blessed. 

My apologies to you @thetragichippy and other bankers for not bringing you any business. lol

You have done it right. No apologies needed.  

I'm currently trying to help a young female who managed to get herself 30K in credit card debt..... she has maxed every card out but never missed a payment.....having a very difficult time getting the underwriters to buy in on a consolidation loan. 

Moral of story - Don't live above your means

[thetragichippy]

15 minutes ago, OlDawg said:

You should read the article. It addresses your second paragraph. As far as the delay on a loan, I’m sure a banker prefers impulse loans to someone having more time to think. Ha!

I'll read it

We don't do impulse loans, we have an obligation to do what's right for the customer.  I'll say this, if it's the middle of August and the AC guy says you need a new unit and you don't have the cash - getting your loan today versus in a couple days will make you wish you didn't freeze your credit:)

[AggiesAreWe]

8 minutes ago, thetragichippy said:

You have done it right. No apologies needed.  

I'm currently trying to help a young female who managed to get herself 30K in credit card debt..... she has maxed every card out but never missed a payment.....having a very difficult time getting the underwriters to buy in on a consolidation loan. 

Moral of story - Don't live above your means

We have one credit card (Visa Gold) for extreme emergencies.

Two different bank debit cards.

I honestly cannot remember the last time I used a credit card. Those things get you in trouble more than they help.

I am fortunate enough to have won money at the casinos that I have been able to have a cash account with those guys to use for my gambling roll.

[OlDawg]

19 minutes ago, AggiesAreWe said:

We have one credit card (Visa Gold) for extreme emergencies.

Two different bank debit cards.

I honestly cannot remember the last time I used a credit card. Those things get you in trouble more than they help.

I am fortunate enough to have won money at the casinos that I have been able to have a cash account with those guys to use for my gambling roll.

We are similar. But, my identity was stolen from a DoD breach. Since I don't take out loans, and I only keep 2 cards (I use them for autopayment of bills where I can dispute & get cash back) it took me until I received collection notices to know I'd been had. I checked my credit reports yearly, and receive immediate notices for every charge on my cards via Capital One & my Credit Union. It didn't matter.

The DoD breach affected millions of veterans, and included all the identifiers--and more--than even in this misuse of data. I should have titled the thread differently I guess, because this is a much bigger disclosure than just your SSN.

If you don't use credit regularly--or at all--so you think yourself safe, I'd actually say you're probably the most at risk because you wouldn't normally think it's a big deal and shouldn't involve you. I thought the same.

A freeze can be lifted in a matter of hours. Not days. I actually tested it when I first set ours up. It was unfrozen in less than an hour online. It's one of the few proactive things you can do to help protect yourself, and it's free.

Anyway, each to their own. I posted for information purposes only.

The article is from Dow Jones, Inc. and Morningstar. Can't impeach the sources.

[AggiesAreWe]

3 minutes ago, OlDawg said:

We are similar. But, my identity was stolen from a DoD breach. Since I don't take out loans, and I only keep 2 cards (I use them for autopayment of bills where I can dispute & get cash back) it took me until I received collection notices to know I'd been had. I checked my credit reports yearly, and receive immediate notices for every charge on my cards via Capital One & my Credit Union. It didn't matter.

The DoD breach affected millions of veterans, and included all the identifiers--and more--than even in this misuse of data. I should have titled the thread differently I guess, because this is a much bigger disclosure than just your SSN.

If you don't use credit regularly--or at all--so you think yourself safe, I'd actually say you're probably the most at risk because you wouldn't normally think it's a big deal and shouldn't involve you. I thought the same.

A freeze can be lifted in a matter of hours. Not days. I actually tested it when I first set ours up. It was unfrozen in less than an hour online. It's one of the few proactive things you can do to help protect yourself, and it's free.

Anyway, each to their own. I posted for information purposes only.

The article is from Dow Jones, Inc. and Morningstar. Can't impeach the sources.

I stated I haven't used the card in a very long time. My wife has used it periodically just to keep the card active. Very very small purchases that she pays off completely at statement time.

You are correct, I may be at risk. But I just don't like having notes. Can't stand interest rates unless it puts money in my pocket.

[thetragichippy]

48 minutes ago, AggiesAreWe said:

You are correct, I may be at risk. But I just don't like having notes. Can't stand interest rates unless it puts money in my pocket.

You seem to be a perfect candidate for a rewards card. My brother travels a lot with his 3/4 ton truck and travel trailer. He uses a rewards CC to get 4% cash back on diesel purchases. He pays it off every month. The 4% is good for up to $8000 per year in purchases.  So in diesel alone, if he spends 8K a year, he gets $320 credit to his card per year.  It has lower percent's for other categories.  That sounded like an advertisement but it's not....lol

When my Father started forgetting to pay bills, I stepped in and had all of his bills auto-charged to his Discover credit card.  I then set up his Discover to be auto-deducted from his checking account.  The only thing I had to do was review the CC statement to make sure all was correct. I believe he received about $500 back a year in credit card rewards.... 

If you do it that way, the credit card pays you to use it. 

The only down fall is it is VERY easy to spend more than you make.

[LumRaiderFan]

13 minutes ago, thetragichippy said:

You seem to be a perfect candidate for a rewards card. My brother travels a lot with his 3/4 ton truck and travel trailer. He uses a rewards CC to get 4% cash back on diesel purchases. He pays it off every month. The 4% is good for up to $8000 per year in purchases.  So in diesel alone, if he spends 8K a year, he gets $320 credit to his card per year.  It has lower percent's for other categories.  That sounded like an advertisement but it's not....lol

When my Father started forgetting to pay bills, I stepped in and had all of his bills auto-charged to his Discover credit card.  I then set up his Discover to be auto-deducted from his checking account.  The only thing I had to do was review the CC statement to make sure all was correct. I believe he received about $500 back a year in credit card rewards.... 

If you do it that way, the credit card pays you to use it. 

The only down fall is it is VERY easy to spend more than you make.

That’s exactly what we do, all gas and groceries on the card for rewards.

Works now that we’re older and more disciplined, when I was younger, not so much, lol.

[bullets13]

29 minutes ago, thetragichippy said:

You seem to be a perfect candidate for a rewards card. My brother travels a lot with his 3/4 ton truck and travel trailer. He uses a rewards CC to get 4% cash back on diesel purchases. He pays it off every month. The 4% is good for up to $8000 per year in purchases.  So in diesel alone, if he spends 8K a year, he gets $320 credit to his card per year.  It has lower percent's for other categories.  That sounded like an advertisement but it's not....lol

When my Father started forgetting to pay bills, I stepped in and had all of his bills auto-charged to his Discover credit card.  I then set up his Discover to be auto-deducted from his checking account.  The only thing I had to do was review the CC statement to make sure all was correct. I believe he received about $500 back a year in credit card rewards.... 

If you do it that way, the credit card pays you to use it. 

The only down fall is it is VERY easy to spend more than you make.

We put everything on our southwest card, then pay it off every month. On the rare occasion our spending outpaces our income for a month we have plenty in savings and still pay it off for the month. We haven't paid for a flight in years, and we fly a couple of times a year, on average.

[OlDawg]

28 minutes ago, LumRaiderFan said:

That’s exactly what we do, all gas and groceries on the card for rewards.

Works now that we’re older and more disciplined, when I was younger, not so much, lol.

Same. Except I use the Capital One (1.5% back) strictly for all regular recurring bills like utilities, insurance, prescriptions, etc. I use the one from the Credit Union for incidentals. I write one check a month still because I just can’t get myself to trust the City for the water bill, and they want direct bank access.

Everything is paid off every month.

[OlDawg]

I guess I should add that I only use Apple Pay for incidentals now as well. Both of my Credit Unions, and the one bank recommend it for security since no one ever sees your card number. If they don’t take Apple Pay—which is rare nowadays—I use the virtual card Capital One lets you set up with their cashback card.

Between that, setting the freeze, and checking my home title online through the county every 6 months, I feel better protected, and I’m not paying for a service like Lifelock or similar. Recently completed a TODD for our house while my wife is still considered ‘competent’. So, no one can do anything with the house title without us voiding it first anyway. I’d get an immediate notice from the county if someone tried.

Identity theft was a booger.

[thetragichippy]

1 hour ago, LumRaiderFan said:

Works now that we’re older and more disciplined, when I was younger, not so much, lol.

Last year I co-signed a signature loan for my 25 year old son to pay off his CC debt.....It worked for him just it would have for me at 24. I tried to warn him, but that ALSO worked just like it would have on me at 24. Luckily he'll be debt free in another 12 months or sooner.

[LumRaiderFan]

22 minutes ago, thetragichippy said:

Last year I co-signed a signature loan for my 25 year old son to pay off his CC debt.....It worked for him just it would have for me at 24. I tried to warn him, but that ALSO worked just like it would have on me at 24. Luckily he'll be debt free in another 12 months or sooner.

Yeah, young folks and credit cards are a dangerous combination.