Identity Theft Prevention with New Utah 15 Minutes Freeze Law

Utah passes new law which significantly reduces the time required
to "un-freeze" access to your credit report. Consumers and business
both win with this new development.

Without access to a targeted identity theft victim's credit history,
thieves can't open new accounts even if they have your social security
number (ssn) and other personal information.

(Note, our recent story of a Utah woman's single day checking account loss)

Now that the state of Utah just passed this innovative
Consumer Credit Protection Act, you can place an
immediate and temporary freeze on your credit report.

But unlike any other of the current state's credit freeze laws, Utah
residents will be able to "un-freeze" their credit report access
within 15 minutes after providing a secured password or
pin number.

As part of the law, consumers will be charged a small fee for
this unless they're already an identity theft victim.

According to state Senator Carlene Walker, the bill's sponsor,
"this new law will let consumers take control of their own
identities and stop criminals from using their names to
drain their banking accounts."

Note, the new law gives the major credit bureaus two years
to develop the programs required to provide this new service.

So, our tip for today, is for Utah residents to take advantage
of this new law by contacting the credit bureaus and
requesting this service when it's made available. In
the interim, however, we urge you to seek out
automatic credit monitoring services which will
allow you to more frequently scrutinize your
existing financial profiles.

This will enable you to discover & notify the proper
authorities of early signs of identity theft you would
detect to limit the overall damage to your financial
well being.

Finally, remember you still will need to also check
your public information profiles as credit freezing
does NOT effect drivers license, court filings, &
medical insurance records listed fraudently under
your name.