What is a Security Freeze?
What's a security freeze?
A security freeze, also known as a credit freeze, is when you instruct the credit reporting agencies not to release your credit report or score to anyone without your say so. This is the single most effective way to protect yourself from identity thieves.
Why? because most identity theft - at least for anyone trying to open new credit in your name -- starts with the identity thief making a credit application in your name, using your personal information. In order to grant that credit, most banks, lenders, and finance companies will then pull your credit report. If they can't get it, no credit will be granted, and the identity thief is "denied."
There are three major credit reporting agencies in the United States: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. A security freeze will prevent anyone from accessing your credit report to open new accounts in your name using these credit bureaus. The freeze will not stop businesses that you have an existing relationship from pulling your credit file to see if they want to continue to do business with you. It will also not hurt your credit score in any way.
Why do you need a credit security freeze now?
Because the last ten years have seen massive data breaches that have released millions of people's personal information. If you're one of those people -- and almost all of us are victims of many breaches -- your risk of being a victim of identity theft increases exponentially.
How to Freeze your Credit Reports
Putting a security freeze on your credit reports is free and easy. You can do it online, by phone or by mail. I recommend doing it online. Just go to the websites of Equifax, Experian and TransUnion and follow their instructions.
It will take a period of time, usually a few days, for the freeze to go into effect. If you move homes, don't forget to update your address with the credit reporting agencies.
Once you have a security freeze in place, you'll be issued a PIN that you'll need to use any time you want to unlock it.
And speaking of unlocking, there are a few different options there. You can unlock it for a certain creditor (like a specific bank or car dealer that you want to do business with). You can unlock it for a certain amount of time (say, 7 days) for everyone. Or you do these in combination (I want Big Bank to be able to access my credit reports for 7 days).
Bottom line -- a security freeze is the best way to protect yourself from identity theft. It's free and easy, and won't hurt your score or interfere with your existing credit. There's no reason not to do it. Pro Tip -- Don't lose the PIN number -- it's a huge pain in bottom line to get a new one!
