Utah may be 25th in the nation for occurrences of identity theft, but it now also has the fastest credit freeze laws in the country.

"Utah's new credit freeze law stops identity thieves cold and quick," said Utah Attorney General Mike Shurtleff in a news release. "Consumers can freeze and thaw their credit in 15 minutes."

According to the news release, the law passed in 2006 but came into effect this September to allow credit bureaus time to reprogram their computers. The previous standard allowed the bureaus up to three days to freeze the accounts after a report was made.

When a freeze is placed on an account, the credit reporting agencies will not allow access to consumer reporting files or credit score unless authorization is given.

If there is suspicion that personal information has been stolen, the Department of the Attorney General advises to follow these four steps to freeze an account:

Contact the three credit bureaus and give your name, date of birth and Social Security number.

For a small fee, credit bureaus will freeze credit and provide people with a pin number or password which can be used to open a new credit account and make purchases.

The freeze prevents anyone from using that credit without your knowledge and prevents thieves from opening any new accounts in your name. According to consumersunion.org, even if someone has found your name, Social Security number and date of birth, they will be blocked from accessing or using that information.

"Nearly everybody said it couldn't be done but now Utah has the nation's first 15-minute credit thaw cycle," said Sen. Carlene Walker, in a news release. "It is a win-win solution because it protects consumers and

businesses."

Freezing an account will not affect current lines of credit and will not prevent credit companies from keeping track of those current lines of credit.

Copyright Brigham Young University 25 Sep 2008