A guide to credit freeze

Every time I pay attention to the news, it seems there is an announcement about another major data breech.   I often get questions from friends, family, and others about what one should do.  My best advice:  freeze your credit!

What I have discovered is that many folks don’t understand exactly what this means, what it doesn’t mean, or how it works. 

What a Credit Freeze Is

Very simply, a credit freeze prevents anyone from accessing your credit report from any of the three U.S. CRAs:  Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. 

When you want to apply for credit, such as a credit card, personal loan, auto loan, mortgage, etc., the lender will pull a copy of your credit report from one (or more) of the CRAs.  A credit freeze prevents them from pulling your credit report.

Additionally, a credit freeze prevents a cyber criminal who has obtained enough of your personal information (such as your name, address, date of birth, and Social Security Number) from opening a new credit account using your personal information.

When you legitimately want to apply for credit, you can temporarily lift the freeze using a PIN on the CRA’s website.  All three CRAs allow you to do a temporary unfreeze for a defined period of time (a day, a week, etc.).

What a Credit Freeze Is Not

A credit freeze does not affect any current accounts that you have open.  Your credit cards, bank accounts, home equity line of credit, and other similar accounts continue to work as they always have.  You can make charges, payments, and conduct transactions.  But you cannot open any new accounts, even with the same company.

How Do I Freeze and Unfreeze My Credit?

Freezing/unfreezing your credit is a very straightforward process.  The easiest way to do this is online, via one of the CRAs websites.  They also offer a telephone and postal mail option to freeze/unfreeze your credit, I’m only going to focus on the online method to do this.

A few years ago, Experian and TransUnion charged a small ($3.00) fee to do a freeze/unfreeze; however, as I am writing this, there is no charge for doing this with any of the three CRAs–at least in my home state of Georgia. Also, the details below on freezing/unfreezing may have changed, but it is still a fairly straightforward process with any of the CRAs.

Another tip:  When applying for credit, ask the lender which CRA they use.  Then only unfreeze your credit with that specific agency(ies)–it saves some time.

Experian:

• Go to the Experian Security Freeze website:  https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
• Select “Add a security freeze” (or "Remove or lift a security freeze")
• Follow the on-screen steps  from here.  You will need your personal information (Name, address, SSN).
• If you have previously created a PIN you will need to provide that as well.

TransUnion:

• Go to the TransUnion Credit Freeze website:  https://freeze.transunion.com
• Click the appropriate link to Freeze or Unfreeze your credit
• With TransUnion, you will also create an account with a User ID and Password which you'll use for subsequent "unfreeze" requests.  Make sure you select a strong password (using a Password Manager is also a really good idea).

Equifax:

• Go to the Equifax website: https://www.freeze.equifax.com
• Select the option to "Get Started with a Freeze" or "Manage a Freeze".

I hope this information is helpful, and you’ll take the opportunity to freeze your credit.  Don’t forget about your spouse and children.  There are options with the CRAs to freeze your minor child’s credit, which you shouldn’t overlook.