It’s easy and free99.
Breakdown
Ever walk away from your house and have that moment of panic - “Did I lock the door?” (for me it’s always the stove). In the time it took to read that sentence, someone could have been throwing your purchased personal information into, I dunno, Best Buy or something to open a line of credit in your name. Scary, right? Well, a credit freeze is something of a vault for your credit that most people don’t know about, and it’s actually pretty simple to set up (and free).
What is it?
A credit freeze is exactly what it sounds like - you’re basically locking access to your credit and nobody (in our example, that’d include Best Buy) can access it until you decide to let them. When your credit is frozen, lenders can’t access your credit report unless you unlock (or “thaw”) it with a special PIN or password. No report access means no new lines of credit can be opened in your name. Why this isn’t the default option when you become an adult, I don’t know, but I imagine the reason starts with “M” and rhymes with honey (and not in our favor).
What’s it cost?
Free 99, baybee. By federal law, credit freezes are free at all three major bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). Now if you’ve ever had your data lost in a breach you’ll be familiar with the standard “oopsie we’re sowwie” email from the responsible company where they’ll offer you a year or two of identity protection for free. Identity protection is great and all, but it’s mostly retroactive: what that means is that if someone does get a hold of your identity, they can still use it and open that line of credit… you’ll just get an email or text message about it when it happens. A credit freeze stops it at the source and again… it costs nothing but time to set up.
What about my credit?
This does not affect your credit score in any way. HOWEVER, if you need to open a new line of credit, you’ll have to “thaw” it in each bureau’s online portal. The bureaus have made this process easy by allowing you to schedule thaws and automatically re-freeze your credit at a time you specify. For example, if you’re in the market for a new car and plan to visit several dealerships over a week, you can thaw your credit for ten days, allow the dealerships’ credit inquiries to process, and let your credit automatically re-freeze once completed.
And… how do I do this?
You’ll have to create an account if you haven’t already and that’ll need to be done at each of the bureau’s, links here:
https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/
https://www.experian.com/help/credit-freeze/
https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze
Once you set the account up, some will require a pin, others just need your username and password you set up when you create the account. After that, you can manage your freezes at your leisure: pop it on and when you’re ready to go car/house/boat/whatever hunting you set the thaw and are good to go.
Wrap Up
A credit freeze is simple, free, and highly effective at blocking fraudsters from opening new credit lines in your name. Sure, it won’t protect you from every financial woe (groceries ain’t getting any cheaper), but it does put a formidable wall between your credit report and anyone who tries to poke around without your say-so.
By taking this step, we’re essentially telling potential thieves: “Sorry, wrong door. Move along.” And that’s pretty rad. So take a moment, lock down your credit, and rest easier knowing your financial future is safer - and it didn’t cost you a penny.
Jake