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WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — It could go on to you. Person swipes your Sociable Security number, then utilizes it to open up a recognition card in your name. Before you cognize it, you've go a victim of personal identity larceny and have got a heap of measures for things you didn't buy.

Sylvia Coates have establish a manner to forestall that unpleasant scenario from happening by freeze her recognition reports.

''I can't state you how fantastic it is. Iodine believe it is the lone foolproof way,'' she said.

Coates, who dwells in Orinda, Calif., applied for a recognition freezing soon after that option go available in 2003, thanks to transition of a state law there that necessitates recognition coverage bureaus to allow consumers originate a recognition freeze.

Having a recognition freezing intends that entree to your recognition studies and recognition tons cannot be shared with possible creditors or loaners unless you give permission.

No entree intends that person who stole your personal information would not be able to fraudulently unfastened a new business relationship in your name.

''It would forestall the criminal from being able to utilize stolen information about you and usage that information to (obtain) a new recognition card or new cell phone,'' in your name, said Michael McCauley, spokesman for the San Francisco business office of Consumers Union.

But while a freezing is an effectual tool to struggle personal identity larceny and recognition card fraud, it's not for everyone. For one, you'll have got to pay a one-time fee (which changes by state, usually $5 or $10) to originate a freezing with each of the nation's three major credit-reporting bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

And if you necessitate to temporarily ''thaw'' A freezing when you desire to use for a new recognition card, place or auto loan, you may have got to pay a fee to each recognition agency to allow a possible creditor expression at your file.

That's why a recognition freezing might not be a good pick for a immature individual with small recognition history, while it could be the right move for an aged individual who have an constituted recognition history.

"If you are person who have got a place and have recognition and not really looking to utilize credit, it's a good tool. But for person who is starting out and demands to have got credit, it's not a good tool," said Kam Coveyou, a spokeswoman for California's Office of Privacy Protection.

Still, if you are concerned about personal identity theft, a recognition freezing is more than effectual than other security options, such as as filing a no-cost fraud qui vive or sign language up for a fee-based credit-monitoring service, Mary McCauley said.

"It's the safest thing you can do," Coveyou said.

California was first

About one-third of the estimated 10 million lawsuits of personal identity larceny that go on annually in the U.S. affect the larceny of purloined Sociable Security Numbers and other personal information to open up new business relationships in the victim's name.

California was the first state to have got a recognition freezing law on the books. Thirty-eight other states, including Texas, and the District of Columbia River have got since passed recognition freezing laws.

The figure of people with a recognition freezing is just a fraction of the estimated 165 million consumers in the United States with a recognition history.

From 50,000 to 70,000 consumers countrywide have got a recognition freezing where there are laws that let them, said Norm Magnuson, frailty president of public personal business for the Consumer Data Industry Association, whose members include the three major recognition bureaus.

The association would wish to see more than consistence among the different laws governing recognition freezes, "for the convenience of our industry and the convenience of consumers," Magnusonsaid.

Taking out a recognition freezing makes not less your recognition score.

Different protection levels

Credit freezes, fraud alarms and recognition monitoring services all supply different degrees of protection for consumers concerned about the possibility of personal identity theft.

A fraud qui vive necessitates recognition bureaus to post a particular message on your study to motivate a possible supplier of recognition to take particular attention to verify that the applier applying for recognition is indeed you. If a fraud qui vive is made with one recognition coverage bureau, that agency is required to go through on the fraud qui vive to the other two bureaus.

A fraud qui vive "is supposed to trip further scrutiny," Mary McCauley said. "What we're hearing from consumers is that doesn't always happen."

Consumers can bespeak a fraud qui vive that endures for 90 years if they believe their personal information may have got been stolen. The initial fraud qui vive can be extended past the 90-day period. Victims of personal identity larceny can have got a fraud qui vive for seven years.

Monitoring by bureaus

For fees ranging from $4.99 to $16.99 a month, the three major recognition coverage bureaus supply credit-monitoring services. Among other things, these services direct out alarms to consumers when a possible creditor have got made enquiries and when new business relationships have been opened.

Having a fraud qui vive or recognition monitoring makes not forestall unauthorised entree to your recognition report.

"That's why the freezing is much more than effective," Mary McCauley said. "It actually forestalls the application from being processed."