A breach at credit bureau Equifax has forced tens of millions of people to try to secure their credit accounts. Consumers are now using a credit freeze which is supposed to prevent anyone from opening a line of credit in the customer's name.
But just when you think a credit freeze will protect you, think again. One woman from Ohio went so far to steal another woman’s info and ran off to Alabama.
"My stuff is on a security freeze. I've had it for 7 years. I have a PIN number. No one can get into my account," said Northeast Ohio resident and identity theft victim Tammy Campbell. "I found out the criminal was standing in the Verizon store unlocking my credit report. "
The thief was able to convince Equifax to crack open Tammy's account even when she didn't have all of Tammy's private info.
According to Ohio law anyone asking to unfreeze an account must have the following: Name, address, answer identifying information about their past and the account pin number. Which police said the accused did not have of Tammy Campbell's. But the woman was apparently forceful over the phone.
News 5 reached out to TransUnion over the issues. Its response reads in part: "We continually evolve our authentication process to focus on questions that would be difficult for a fraudster to answer."
So what do you do if this happens to you? The Federal Trade Commission suggests that you check your credit report every few months. As for Tammy Campbell, she suggests credit bureaus demand what's required to unfreeze an account.
"It's unbelievable and I just want them to follow this. That's all," said Tammy Campbell. "I mean I want policies to change. I want people to know that this happened to me. And it could happen to them."
