40% of Fraud Alerts are not properly set. The credit bureau’s system for setting fraud alerts is seriously flawed, leaving consumers unprotected.
	Consumers are usually not told by the credit bureaus when their Fraud Alerts are not set properly. In our study, only two consumers whose Fraud Alerts were not set properly were notified.
	When Fraud Alerts fail to properly set, there are no instructions for consumers on how to correctly set the Fraud Alerts.
	In 9% of the cases, Fraud Alerts were unable to be set without first reviewing the consumer's credit report and doing research on that consumer's profile at the credit bureau.

Additional Observations:

	Fraud Alerts are effective for only 90 days, but most participants did not realize this, even after carefully reading paperwork from the credit bureaus.
	Consumers must verify their Fraud Alerts are set at all three credit bureaus every 90 days. They must go through this verification process again each and every time their Fraud Alerts are set.
	Consumers provide daytime and evening phone numbers to the credit bureaus when setting their Fraud Alerts. When the credit bureaus pass Fraud Alert information on to the other two credit bureaus, Experian deletes the consumer's evening phone number. This makes it more difficult for creditors to clear Fraud Alerts and makes the Fraud Alert less effective for the consumer.

To view the complete Debix Fraud Alert Study, click here.