Amidst Huge Amount Of Hacking, Millions Of New Yorkers Are On Tenterhooks, Worried That Their Finances Are At Constant Risk; Schumer Announces Plan That Would Require Consumers Be Notified The Minute Access To Their Credit Is Requested; Right Now, No Notification Exists

Press Release

In light of major security breaches and rampant identity theft across the country, and recent data breaches within the government and even at a New York City hospital this past week, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced a new plan that directs the three national credit reporting agencies to implement a "credit inquiry alert' that would immediately notify consumers whenever access to their credit is requested--alerting them to when someone tries to open a new line of credit or a new account in their name, using their personal information. Schumer called on the three credit bureau agencies of Experian, Equifax and Transunion to set up a simple, easily accessible notification system that would alert consumers whenever access to their credit is requested.

Schumer said that this will better protect consumers from falling victim to one of the most common ways identity thieves steal from consumers--by gaining access to their credit. Schumer's plan would allow consumers--for the first time ever--to receive an instant notification from a credit bureau that would allow a consumer to freeze their credit at the moment unauthorized access to their credit is requested; before new purchases are made or before access to credit turns into costly fraud. Schumer detailed how hackers and ID thieves drain credit, and thereby lower the credit scores of consumers, along with how he planned to get the credit bureaus to implement these "credit inquiry alerts' on behalf of the public. Schumer added, the two major ways hackers drain the credit and lower the credit score of a consumer is by opening a line of credit in one's name or setting up an entirely new account, unknown to the consumer.

"Despite widespread hacking and identity theft across the country, consumers are not notified when access to their credit is requested to create a new account. Instead, consumers are often in the dark until their credit is drained or their credit score has tanked," said Senator Schumer. "So, today I'm urging the three national credit reporting bureaus: Experian, Equifax and Transunion to set up a simple, easily-accessible voluntary system that would notify consumers anytime their credit is checked or accessed to open a new account or establish a line of credit to buy a car, rent a home, or worse. A "credit inquiry alert' would instantly notify consumers--by phone or by email--- every time there is an authorized or unauthorized query on their credit file. Simply put, a "credit inquiry alert" would give consumers a heads up to freeze his or her credit and put a halt to the problematic, and possibly fraudulent activity, before it's too late."

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