Sabrina’s Money Matters

Okay, not so much breaking news as it is breaking news to me…but Lifelock has been sued by Experian the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court on Feb. 13, was talked about on The Alabama Consumer Law blog where I read it on 2-21-08 and explains why, here’s an excerpt:

Experian claims that under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the 90-day alerts are intended for consumers who believe they have become the victim of fraud or will likely become a victim.

The act also stipulates that only consumers or representatives - such as a parent - can sign up for fraud alerts.

Experian argues that by continuously enrolling its customers in fraud alerts, LifeLock is costing credit-reporting agencies money.

Furthermore, Experian also contends that LifeLock does not do enough to let consumers know that they could obtain many of the services it offers on their own for free.

“LifeLock is leading consumers to believe that the service it is providing is something consumers couldn’t do themselves and they have to pay a fee for what is a legal right under federal law,” said Peg Smith, executive vice president in Experian’s Costa Mesa, Calif. office. “We believe what’s happening here is LifeLock is not providing adequate disclaimers to consumers about the fact that these are free for consumers who are truly victims of fraud.”

While I’m not sure I agree with the author of that blog, because if all Lifelock is doing is continuously hitting your credit with fraud alerts and signing up so many customers, the credit market will have everyone having fraud alerts, and thus lessen the seriousness of the alert. The more people see this coming up when they pull credit, the more and more people that have this issue, the less serious it will seem.

Compare it to watching the news. We see it everyday, so we stop caring so much at each instance of pain, torture, theft, murder, or crime in general unless it hits our hot button. Same thing with the fraud alerts, the more they are placed on people that don’t really need it, the less serious it will seem to those who decide if you’re credit worthy. This will cost us money. If you’re paying $10 a month to Lifelock, unenroll right now because this system is designed to hurt us. I say circular logic is faulty logic and Lifelock doing this reeks of stupid.

Not to mention, you have all you need here to lock your credit report, without a fraud alert. AND I’ve shown you how to set up a fraud alert if you really need it (and having a police report makes a credit lock free), pull your credit, read your report, dispute inaccuracies…what more could you ask for?

This post is not for a high school Valentine’s date, it’s for grown, over 18 consenting adults. So if you are under the age of 18, do not read this post. Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way… you don’t have much time, so I hope you read and act on it right away.

Valentine’s Day is Thursday buddy, and if you and your girl have been together a while, there ARE expectations. You can always get some jewelry, and at a great price. No one said rings were necessary, get her a nice pendant or something that you can tell her is beautiful on her.

If you shop locally be watchful of price hikes, I have used Bidz several times and have gotten some wonderful jewelry from them. With the money you’ll save in the price you’ll be happy to have it overnighted to your doorstep for the momentous occasion.

And I even have a recommendation if you don’t have a date…that will help you get one. Yes, it’s a one stop shop, get a date, get the Valentine mojo working and earn a little credit for the relationship that ensues, and have a great Valentine’s this year… Check out FriendSearch.com to find arm candy for the love festival that is Valentine’s Day and start a great relationship on the right note.

There are some of you who don’t want to miss out on Valentine’s Day and the romance that is inevitable, but you also don’t want a relationship because maybe you’re too busy or, for whatever reason don’t want ties. So for a one time date, I am recommending a company that understands a different philosophy… “The Heart Wants What The Heart Wants…Find Out” HERE

Lest we not forget that the kids must be taken care of if you have any…..of course! Trust a screening company that has already registered capable babysitters, that even Dr. Phil has recommended, get a FREE Nanny Search at Nannies4hire

You can get a great little set of underclothes to tell her how you feel if you love that special lady in your life…

You need something hot for you too….

Get down to your WebUndies scivvies before you give her the jewelry you got her and be sure to have a better than ever Valentine’s! I’ve thought of everything for you, and if you want to provide a fantastic set up for your girl, don’t forget to consider making her feel like a million dollar movie star.

That’s all for now everyone, have fun planning for your Valentine!

Today is a perfect day to give you a comprehensive list of links for all your credit needs. Sure I could just link to the various articles I’ve written that contain said links, but that would leave you doing legwork, and I’m all about doing that for you - that’s why you come here isn’t it? Simple, no hassle, drama free financial information? Ah well, I’ll hook you up anyways, free of charge. I’m that kind of girl.

Here’s how to get your credit report, it’s a how to article, so no links, just instructions and a step by step guide. And I’m sure you want to know how to dispute your credit online with Experian.

If you’ve read my other credit posts, you’ll have what you need for that.

I have no choice but to link to the guide on locking your credit report. Not to mention this list of places you probably frequent that allow potentially unsecure access to your credit information that can easily be taken advantage of. The comments on this article also proved informative as they included some other places you would never dream have private information.

Below is an excerpt from Get Your Credit Score posted back in September.

“The truth is, no matter how “bad” you may think your credit is, there is someone worse off than you. There are only 5 sites I would recommend for obtaining your credit score, and they won’t surprise you.

www.AnnualCreditReport.com
www.MyFico.com
www.Experian.com
www.TransUnion.com
www.Equifax.com

The first one listed, AnnualCreditReport.com will give you a copy of each of your credit reports once per year for free. MyFico.com will give you all three of your credit scores at once. Without subscribing to anything. As you would expect the individual sites will sell you their individual score. They all offer some sort of credit monitoring for a monthly service fee as well. The big difference between the sites of the actual companies including those listed above and those SCAMs I’ve talked about is how they get your money.

The sites I listed let you purchase your credit score without purchasing a service as well. The scams never give you the option of just getting your score and dealing with them only once.”

Here’s a How To Guide to putting a Fraud Alert on Your Credit File.

Well folks, that’s all I have for you today, come back tomorrow for another great post making your money matter. If you liked this post, you should sign up for my feed and never miss another post! You know you want to, go on and sign up, I might surprise you.

I have a special treat for you all today. You have to pay a service to do this to hear some companies tell it.

I’m telling you how for FREE!

Bet ya didn’t know that you can LOCK your credit report. Yep, lock it. From inquiries, from background checks, from pre-approved offers, from identity theft, from everything except accounts you already have open.

Pull a fast one on those companies who want you to pay for this level of security…

Okay, for your credit reports to be locked it’ll take a little money - but it’s ten to twelve dollars for each company and it’ll cost the same to unlock it if you need to.

Your existing creditors will still be able to report to your credit and send you offers but no one will be able to perform an inquiry, a background check, a credit check or anything.

If you want it released for a certain period of time you can do so, you can also have it released to just one person. You have to notify the credit agency 5 days before you take any action on your credit file and in writing.

To freeze your credit you need to send the letter by certified mail - return receipt requested so that you know when they’ve received it and you’ll know when you can tell someone to pull your report.

Each of these instances may cost you a fee. This is free to people who have a police report verifying identity theft. The addresses you’ll write to are below:

Equifax Security Freeze
P.O. Box 105788
Atlanta, Georgia

Experian Security Freeze
P.O. Box 9554
Allen, TX 75013

Trans Union Security Freeze
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

Here’s what you have to include:

1. A letter by certified mail.

2. Provide your full name, including middle initial, address, social security number and date of birth.

3.You haven’t moved but if you had over the past five years you’d need to list your addresses out for the past five years.

4. Provide proof of current address with a utility bill or phone bill.

5. Send a photocopy of a government issued id card or license.

6. Pay the fee by check, money order or credit card.

After five days the freeze will be in place. After ten days you’ll receive a pin number or password, you know what to do once you get that.

Credit bureaus have to lift a freeze three days after receiving your request to lift it. If anyone tries to pull your file while it is frozen, they will get a code that indicates the report is frozen. You can still order your own report however and your score is not affected by this.

By the way if you haven’t stopped the pre-approved credit card offers read this opt out guide to find out how.

The case law that allows you to lock your credit report is called the Regulation of Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act.

I’ve attached a sample letter so you can just plug your info and the address to the proper agency in so that you don’t have to do much to get this going.

Security Freeze Sample Letter

Read this article if you want to know how to put a
Fraud Alert On Your Credit File before you lock it.

I hope this guide proves to be useful to you, and please know that you DO NOT have to pay for information to protect yourself. You CAN find it for free. Look through my archives for multiple articles that help you help yourself. I believe in doing what you can do yourself, because that is the only way you can be sure YOUR interests are what are important.

That’s all for today folks, don’t be suckered into paying for something that you can get for free!