Identity Theft Protection FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Identity Theft Protection

What is a fraud alert?

A fraud alert requires each of the three credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, to use "reasonable policies and procedures" to verify your identity before opening an account in your name. This usually means that they will call you to confirm that you did indeed request that a new account be opened. An initial fraud alert remains on your account for 90 days and thus must be re-requested every 90 days if you want to continue to have this protection. You can do this yourself with one of the credit bureas - you only need to set the alert with one bureau because they are legally required to set it with the other two. We like Equifax's online fraud alert form the best. LifeLock is the only remaining service that sets these for you and renews them for you every 90 days although they may have to stop providing this service if a recent judgment against them brought by Experian stands.

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