Ghosts that attack your credit….where will they strike next? We begin Halloween week by welcoming cyber security expert Michael Bruemmer from Experian to the basement to talk about protecting your identity. What are best practices for now and what should we worry about in the future?
We also tackle headlines about compounding interest and gold…two topics that should NOT be hot (but seem to be anyway….). We also field letters from Matt and Russell. If you don’t have a 401k plan, where should you invest for retirement?
That’s not all….we also have trivia and more!
Thanks to MagnifyMoney.com and SoFi for sponsoring our podcast.
Subscribe below.
Show Notes:
<> Open
From student loans to personal loans and mortgages, lower your interest rate with a strategy involving SoFi. You need a good credit score to qualify.
Compare checking, savings, credit cards, and loans before switching. Magnify Money makes it super easy to compare, switch and save.
<>Headlines
- 5 Reasons Compound Interest Isn’t What It’s Cracked Up To Be (US News)
- Gold Comes Back To Life as Prices Exceed 200 Day Moving Average (Bloomberg)
<>Michael Bruemmer
Michael’s website: Experian
LinkedIn: Michael Bruemmer
Items Discussed:
<>Doug’s Trivia
- Today’s trivia question: What’s the most common password?
- Kathleen’s link: The 25 Most Popular Passwords of 2014: We’re All Doomed (Gizmod0)
<>Letters
- Matt – Page of top podcasts/books
- Russell – No 401k…where do I invest?
In reference to the comment about Mark Cuban, check out this podcast https://epicenterbitcoin.com/podcast/101/ where they talk about building a system on the internet where people can validate usernames based on their social media profiles. Something like this will guard from fake twitter accounts etc.
Also it really surprised me that you had someone from Experian on your show after hearing about where their loyalty actually is. (hint its not in our protection, its in $$$$$) And this is coming from a reputable security expert. http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/10/experian-sold-consumer-data-to-id-theft-service/
So, it’s really surprising that we had on one of the three credit bureaus talking about credit and data breaches of the future?
Is it also surprising that in the article you reference it says that Experian bought the company which was selling US Info Search data data and once it was informed of the practice that they shut it down?
I’m not in the business of defending Experian, but come on….
There is no need to defend anyone. The facts speak for themselves. One of the three major credit bureaus was selling customer data (PII) to identity thieves. How ethical is that? (They sold data to a company who had a contract with a third party and the third party turned out to be the theives.) But its okay they will pay a fine eventually maybe and we will trust them to make ethical decisions about handling our personally identifiable information. Unfortunately buying the company who had an agreement with the third party company (thieves) does not make up for the fact that the 3 major credit bureaus shouldn’t be selling our personal information in the first place. For the right price perhaps you could buy PII from Experian even.
I not trying to attack your business, Experian did this because the world revolves around money. I don’t think places in charge of validating our credit should be motivated purely by money.
I’m still lost on this comment.
1) They bought a company.
2) They found out the company was selling data.
3) They shut down the issue.
Have you bought a company before? I’m confused what they should have done differently? Maybe better research before buying the company (I suppose this would have solved it). I’ve purchased companies. You don’t know what’s going on with every purchase.
I understand some of the comments in this thread taking me to task and also taking Experian to task. This one? I think it was a case of “we bought a company that was doing stuff we didn’t know.”
What would Experian have to gain otherwise? I’m not sure what’s in it for them if they’re malicious here.
I was disapointed that freezing your credit might one of the best ways to defend yourself was not mention. I resent the fact that it costs me money to protect myself when they can’t be trusted with my data (by freezing my credit). I did not ask for them (credit agencies) to collect my financial data. You didn’t ask hard questions. Why can’t parents freeze their children’s files? A child under 17 or 18 does not need credit anyway. Why are they fighting it? Why is it so hard to get your credit record cleared when there is a problem? I tried to remove erroneous info (wrong addresses or Jr was on my name) on my record and have not been successful. I have tried several times. Did Michael pay to be on your show? Because all it sounded to me is that he was trying to sell his services. I think you did a poor job on this on. Sorry I have to come down on you so hard but I think your mother would approve. Thanks, I generally like your show.
David
David,
Great comment. I probably could have asked Michael more difficult and pointed questions about Experian. While I knew he’d talk a little about his company’s product, we did also talk about many similar products (I use myFICO’s competing product). While we did NOT talk about freezing your credit on this episode, if you’ve listened to the show, you’ll know we’ve discussed that in the past. Should I have brought it up here? Maybe. Thanks for the note.
I wonder when this Podcast was produced because last week I received my notice from Experian about THEIR T-Mobile server breach. Oh well at least I get two years of credit monitoring instead of the one year I received after the Target, Home Depot and BCBS NJ breaches.
I did not like that the first line of defense against frauds mentioned by Mr Bruemmer is to have credit monitoring. That is not free and just by coincidence Experian sells Protect My ID. I too felt like this episode was almost a commercial in disguise. I froze my credit file based on the retail breaches and found that I couldn’t even create a social security online profile because of it. Freezing the file is free.
So discussing credit monitoring is a commercial in disguise?
I use credit monitoring and I’m curious why you’d think that it’s not a good solution. Is every solution that my guests have on the show supposed to be free?
He mentioned credit monitoring (I use a competing product), and not their own product until prompted by me. Why did I prompt him? I knew they had a product. He was nice enough to agree to come on my program, so I let him talk about his thing at the end of the segment.
Credit monitoring as advertisement? I’m not buying it. Me letting my guest talk about his thing while he’s on? Guilty as charged.
If you’ve listened to past episodes, you’ll already know that we’ve discussed freezing your credit as an option. Should I have asked him about that option? Probably. However, if you’ve listened to past episodes you’ll also know that freezing your credit also brings it’s own pains in the ass scenarios…..it’s “free” but you pay in other ways.