Freezing your credit stops identity thieves from opening new accounts in your name.
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Our Experts Written by Danni SantanaDanni Santana has spent seven years as an editor and business journalist covering industries like sports, retail, restaurants, and now personal finance. Most recently he worked as a retail editor at Business Insider. He is a graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. His biggest loves outside of the newsroom include, running, cooking, playing video games and collecting sneakers.
Edited by Courtney JohnstonCourtney Johnston is a senior editor leading the CNET Money team. Passionate about financial literacy and inclusion, she has a decade of experience as a freelance journalist covering policy, financial news, real estate and investing. A New Jersey native, she graduated with an M.A. in English Literature and Professional Writing from the University of Indianapolis, where she also worked as a graduate writing instructor.
CNET staff -- not advertisers, partners or business interests -- determine how we review the products and services we cover. If you buy through our links, we may get paid.
Our Experts Written by Danni SantanaDanni Santana has spent seven years as an editor and business journalist covering industries like sports, retail, restaurants, and now personal finance. Most recently he worked as a retail editor at Business Insider. He is a graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. His biggest loves outside of the newsroom include, running, cooking, playing video games and collecting sneakers.
Edited by Courtney JohnstonCourtney Johnston is a senior editor leading the CNET Money team. Passionate about financial literacy and inclusion, she has a decade of experience as a freelance journalist covering policy, financial news, real estate and investing. A New Jersey native, she graduated with an M.A. in English Literature and Professional Writing from the University of Indianapolis, where she also worked as a graduate writing instructor.
CNET staff -- not advertisers, partners or business interests -- determine how we review the products and services we cover. If you buy through our links, we may get paid.
Why You Can Trust CNET MoneyOur mission is to help you make informed financial decisions, and we hold ourselves to strict editorial guidelines . This post may contain links to products from our partners, which may earn us a commission. Here’s a more detailed explanation of how we make money .
Table of ContentsI mulled over freezing my credit for weeks before I did it. As a personal finance editor covering identity theft, I knew it would make it harder for cybercriminals to open a new credit account in my name -- but it would also make it difficult for me.
When you freeze your credit, you have to manually unfreeze or “thaw” it whenever you want to apply for a new credit card, car loan or mortgage.
The process of freezing your credit isn’t so straightforward either. It involves signing up for individual accounts with the three main US credit bureaus, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian and freezing your credit manually online or by phone or mail.
But there are two benefits that sold me on it. First, freezing your credit is absolutely free. And second, you get peace of mind in knowing you’ve neutralized a major tool in identity thieves’ playbook.
Lock your credit and safeguard your sensitive data.
Data breaches happen more often than you think. And chances are, your data has been compromised at least once. Just this year, Ticketmaster and AT&T reported data breaches that have impacted millions of customers. An alleged hack of background search company National Public Data may have also compromised the personal data of 2.9 billion people, according to a new lawsuit.
Recently, I noticed an uptick in the amount of scam messages I received on my phone and in my email inbox. Most were easy enough to sniff out, but some were fairly well researched.
I’ve received a variety of messages asking me out for ribs and even offering me new job opportunities. The barrage of messages, phone calls and emails made me think that at any given moment -- while distracted or in a rush to get back to my desk for my next meeting– I may fall victim to a scam that could lead to identity theft.
Freezing my credit is one of the best ways to protect your data and money -- but it’s not foolproof. Fraudsters and identity thieves might still gain access to my personal information via existing accounts. However, I can limit the damage.
When you freeze your credit, you’ll need to do it with each of the three main credit bureaus. That requires setting up accounts at each -- a process that took about 30 minutes online. Generally, you’re asked for the same information: your name, birthday and the last four digits of your Social Security number. You then need to complete two-factor authentication via text or email.
TransUnion and Equifax have dedicated tabs available to you on your dashboard to freeze your credit after you create an account. A few clicks, and I was all set.
Experian makes this option a bit more difficult to find. After some clicking around, I found two ways to activate a free security freeze.
You can hover over “credit” on your dashboard and click Experian Credit Lock -- Experian’s paid offering that works similar to a credit freeze, but that among other features locks your credit report instantly. On that page, you see the free “security freeze” option.
You can also scroll down to the bottom of the page while signed in and click Experian Credit Lock to get to the same page. All three credit bureaus will confirm your credit freeze via email.
If you don’t want to set up online accounts, you can call each credit bureau to freeze your credit. Here are the numbers for each:
After you’ve requested a credit freeze, each bureau must freeze your credit within one business day. When you need to unfreeze your credit, Experian, TransUnion and Equifax are required to thaw your credit within an hour. By mail, it may take up to three business days to freeze and unfreeze your credit.
Setting up the credit freeze was simple enough. But I’m not going to tell you that having your credit frozen is convenient. Here are some downsides to consider:
If you are thinking of applying for a new credit card, looking for your first home or thinking of taking out a new car loan, it’s probably best to wait until after you’ve opened the account before freezing your credit.
Freezing your credit prevents cybercriminals or identity thieves from opening new credit accounts in your name. But it also stops you. To open a new credit account, you’ll need to login to your accounts or contact each of the three credit bureaus and temporarily unfreeze your credit.
Freezing your credit is a good step toward protecting your identity, but it can still be stolen.
You may consider signing up for an identity theft protection service. Individual plans typically start from $7 to $15 depending on the level of financial and identity monitoring you want. With an identity theft protection plan, you can monitor your credit, bank accounts and the dark web for your or your family’s personal identifiable data, or PII.
Alternatively, you can take advantage of free tools at your disposal. Review your monthly credit card and bank statements. Also look at your medical claims history online and on your credit report. You can download your free credit report on AnnualCreditReport.com.
