| It's no gardener's paradise to get "hit" by identity | | | | "Regular Business"? What the Bad Guys do is |
| theft or to find out a month after the fact that | | | | exploit this business model, by inserting |
| some criminal has learned about your accounts, | | | | themselves into the "demand" side of these |
| gone on a spending spree, leaving you with the | | | | businesses...using your name or other credit details |
| bills to pay! "No more!" say the Garden State | | | | to apply in your name for a new credit |
| legislators, joining states such as California, | | | | card.Normally, as in 80% or more of the cases, |
| Connecticut and Louisiana in an upgrade of | | | | the fraudsters get away with it. Result? A new |
| consumer protection laws to reduce abusive | | | | credit card is issued to them, in your name...they |
| credit card fraud and identity theft.What Credit | | | | go on a spending binge until the credit max is |
| Freeze Laws Deliver To Garden Staters. While | | | | met...30 days later along the normal billing cycle |
| Tony Soprano might get away with "whacking" | | | | you suddenly open your mail and discover a new |
| other bad guys, New Jersey residents expect a | | | | card with literally thousands of dollars of |
| better deal and definitely seek ways to minimize | | | | purchases! "What's this? I never bought this |
| identity theft, credit card fraud, corruption of | | | | stuff!"...and then the penny drops...you've been |
| bank and checking accounts. This is where a | | | | ripped off. Credit card fraud, identity theft, the |
| credit freeze law creates a key control-tool for | | | | whole 9 yards and you're now facing a huge |
| residents. How credit freeze works is that New | | | | problem to clean up your credit history, remove |
| Jersey residents formally notify in writing the | | | | these fraudulent charges, and more.What New |
| three major front line credit bureaus...TransUnion, | | | | Jersey Resident Need To Do. The first thing to do |
| Experian and Equifax...plus add a $10 fee and | | | | is "wake-up" to the real and growing risk of |
| designate that no credit report request can be | | | | identity theft and credit card fraud. Literally 10s of |
| acted upon without the account holder's | | | | billions of dollars of fraud related to identity theft |
| permission.How Does The New Jersey Credit | | | | occur each year. Realistically, 80% to 90% of |
| Freeze Law Stop Bad Guys & Good Guys? | | | | credit card fraud occurs unnoticed by consumers, |
| Remarkably, the Bad Guys who seek to defraud | | | | until it's too late. Meanwhile the Bad Guys |
| you, get most of their support for access to | | | | disappear, their pockets filled with gear that |
| your files and credit history from the alleged | | | | they've stolen, using your name and credit.Garden |
| Good Guys, namely the credit bureaus and the | | | | State residents need to formally advise in writing |
| hundreds of firms offering credit privileges. Why? | | | | each credit bureau to place an immediate |
| To be clear, there's no direct collusion or | | | | permanent credit freeze on their credit history |
| relationship between fraudsters and legitimate | | | | reports, plus add a $10 to $12 fee per bureau. |
| businesses. However, the indirect side of the | | | | Once in place, your credit freeze means that the |
| situation is where the intersection between good | | | | bureau can no longer sell or provide any of your |
| and evil occurs. Here's the rub. The credit bureaus, | | | | personal data to any party, nor can any new |
| maintaining millions of credit history file records are | | | | credit request or new credit be issued unless you |
| seriously motivated to do what...? You got it...to | | | | personally approve and you pay a $12 release fee |
| sell for a fee your credit history report to credit | | | | to transfer your credit history report to a specific |
| card companies, merchants, gasoline companies, | | | | firm.New Jersey credit freeze laws are all about |
| department stores, hardware and building stores | | | | increased consumer protection and a push back |
| plus the raft of merchants seeking to uncover | | | | against identity theft and credit card fraud. |
| new customers.How Do The Bad Guys Exploit | | | | |