In applying for credit cards and bank accounts to maximize miles/points, can I use an EIN instead of SSN ? I am paranoid about ID theft. Does having an EIN for my business, and using that EIN for applications help any ?

What credit rating is assigned to my EIN after I apply for one?

I'm not a CPA but I believe the answer is no. Your SSN is used to track your credit history and therefore your creditworthiness. You may be able to use an EIN except that it would have zero credit history and therefore they would not be able to "verify" you because the EIN is not associated with your name in any of the credit bureaus.

Just FYI, if you're paranoid about ID theft, using your EIN won't help... as soon as you open a card with your EIN, assuming that's even possible, your EIN will sudddenly have a credit rating and be associated with your name. Therefore, someone could just as easily open a card under your name with your EIN as well as your SSN.

All that said, I don't know whether you can or can't use an EIN in general... but I personally wouldn't recommend it. The only way to help prevent ID theft is to be meticulous about shredding paperwork and being cautious with whom you conduct business, but there's no foolproof manner, including using an EIN. You can also sign up for credit-monitoring services; you can get good ones for as little as $6/mo, roughly.

Thanks, which service do you recommend? I would rather just pay $10 every few months and check my report manually if that is possible?

I've personally never used any of the services, but if you are a Costco member, they are affiliated with IdentityGuard; $9.49/mo for regular members, $7.49/mo for Executive. I'm sure Sam's Club and BJ's have similar affiliations with other services, if you're a member of one of those. Other than that, just do a Google search for "credit monitoring" and you'll find a number of sites, but I can't recommend any one since I have no personal experience.

As for checking periodically, you can receive 1 free report from each of the 3 major credit bureaus once a year, by going to www.annualcreditreport.com - the federally-sponsored website. What I do is get one report every 4 months, from a different agency each time.

If you want to pay to check more frequently, those options are available. You can either pay the credit bureaus directly, or you can look for a 3rd-party service. Again, do a Google search for "credit report" and you'll find plenty... just look for ones that appear legit and heavily-visited, and you can probably find ratings for various sites if you search for that, too.

The benefit of a monitoring service is that they check your reports automatically every 24 hours, which means that you get alerted within a day of any suspicious activity (new account opening, etc.). If you're truly paranoid about identity theft, that's the way to go, because if you only check your report every few months, a lot of damage can occur during those months. (That said, I've never been a victim, myself, so this is only what I imagine could happen and what I would do if I were in your shoes.)

IMHO, credit monitoring services are basically a scam, meant to profit the credit bureaus who created the problem. It plays to peoples' fears about ID theft but is not an effective solution.

Wouldn't it be more cost effective to get a homeowner's policy that covers ID theft costs? Or, perhaps even better, to freeze access to your credit reports, an option now open to anyone for a small charge or for free, depending on your State's laws.

I'll move this to the Other Credit Card forum, where credit card application questions are a bit more on point than in MilesBuzz.

Regards,
Gary
aka gleff
MilesBuzz moderator

Even business cards will require your SSN.

I use True Credit (from Trans Union) because I got a free year from my bank when they lost a hard drive or something that MIGHT have my information on it. It is coming in handy now since I've been playing the balance transfer game and want to make sure I stay on top of how my report looks.

Agree that fear is used to market these products, but fear is used to market many products. Apparently it works.

Most offer a free 30 day trial. If you are not worried about continuous monitoring, sign up for one and cancel after 30 days. A few months later, sign up for a different one and cancel. Rinse and repeat..... There are reports over at fatwallet that Privacy Matters will give you a $30 for a full year deal when you try to cancel.

I think true identity theft is rare, meaning someone actually opening many accounts as you. Simple credit card number theft is not a big deal as you are not liable and it can be cleared up quickly. I've had my bank and internet merchants notify me of suspicious activity long before it would even hit my bill, let alone credit report. If someone does "become you", they can do a lot of damage in a few months. Insurance policies may cover the cost in the long run, but if you go to apply for a mortgage and find out you owe $500K for stuff you never bought it is going to be a problem.

I own a small business so I'll chime in on this. In general, SSN's are provided to parties where it will stay hidden (banks, credit cards, etc). EIN is more or less the number that the public sees. If you are applying for credit cards, I wouldn't worry about giving them your SSN as long as you follow best practices - don't send your SSN in the mail or over unsecured email/forms/etc.

When companies are requesting W9's to give you 1099's, its better to give then an EIN because companies other than banks/cc companies have a more lax way of handling W9's. That would be the only time I'm weary of giving a SSN.

You can get an EIN pretty easily, in fact you can create a sole proprietorship DBA yourself, and request an EIN instantly from the IRS site.

Aside from that, if you have enough credit cards and dont plan on opening anymore, you can request a freeze on your account... meaning people cannot access your credit report (hence instant denial for credit) unless you unlock it. IMO thats the best way to protect credit, instead of trying to undo indentity theft with the "monitoring services". You can buy identity theft insurance these days but why bother.

I like this suggestion. According to expiran it costs $10 to freeze/unfreeze. So perhaps one can unfreeze it , apply for a half-dozen cards, then freeze it . I notice though if you apply for too many cards , you get the message 'Furthur processing is required at this time to approve your application' . Does that mean I would need to have my credit open till they do this 'furthur processing'?

From what I have heard and FWIW I believe that Lifelock is the best service out there to protect your identity and has a lot of features that you may want to look at. There has to be something to the ad where the founder starts by disclosing his SSN (although without his date of birth it is not as vulnerable). I haven't been enrolled that long and have not had any issues as yet, but I sleep better and feel that the $10 per month is a small price to pay. I spend more than that on soft drinks at the convenience store! You can go to their homepage to check them out http://www.lifelock.com/

Besides, if Rush Limbaugh likes them they must be top-shelf!

IMHO, Lifelock and other such operations are very dubious. See this story: http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2007-...ened-in-vegas/

and do a search for lifelock and scam before you sign up.

Also an interesting story in the Dallas Morning News. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...i.2de6b4f.html