Does anyone know what I can do as an US citizen abroad to protect myself now? I tried to get a free copy of my credit report but it required a us address to process. I tried to set up an account to freeze my credit but those require a us address as well.
No idea, but I asked the same thing on the expats Stack Exchange site earlier today[0]. No responses yet, maybe we have to wait until Monday and call them? You might also contact the US Embassy in your country and ask.
I had a similar problem with signing up for an online "my Social Security" account, and learned that it is impossible. The US Embassy in London wrote back: "You must have a U.S. mailing address in order to create a my Social Security account and cannot open an account without one."
Having a credit record in the USA is no longer important as I do not plan to return, but you would think the credit reporting agencies should have some way of telling them "I'm long gone, if you see a credit application from the USA it's definitely fraudulent". Can't be done I guess.
Thanks I'll keep my eye on that question. Like you I probably won't care about my credit back home for the next decade or so but I don't know if I'll move back in the future.
Depends where you are. If in the EU, for example, you have some pretty strong rights to access personal data held about you, correct it, or even block its further use. They apply to data all over the world, provided it's processed by a company that has an "establishment" (e.g. subsidiary) in the EU, and the data use is somehow related to that establishment's activities. From May next year, when the new GDOR kicks in, the geographic link will be even easier to establish: businesses are caught the moment they monitor people in the EU. Check out the website of your local data protection authority for details.
