How to freeze your credit

A freeze restricts access to your credit report. When a lender cannot pull the report, it will not approve a new account — so an identity thief holding your name, date of birth and Social Security number still cannot open a card or take out a loan.

It does not affect accounts you already have. Existing credit cards keep working, existing loans carry on, and your bank does not notice. It does not stop you using credit you already hold.

It has no effect on your credit score. A freeze is not a negative marker, is not visible to lenders as a black mark, and is not reported as an event on your file.

It does not stop all fraud. Someone with your card number can still make fraudulent charges on an existing account, and a freeze does nothing about tax refund fraud, medical identity theft or unemployment benefit fraud. It specifically blocks new credit accounts.

Some things still get through by design: your existing creditors, debt collectors acting on their accounts, and government agencies acting under a court order or subpoena retain access. Employment and insurance screening may also continue in some circumstances.

A freeze is the strongest of the three. It is free, it lasts until you remove it, and it blocks access to the report outright. It is the right default for most people.

A fraud alert is weaker. It tells lenders to take extra steps to verify identity before granting credit, but it does not block access. Its advantages are that it is free, it lasts a year, and — unlike a freeze — placing one with a single bureau obliges that bureau to notify the other two. Victims of identity theft can obtain an extended alert lasting seven years.

A credit lock is a commercial product offered by the bureaus themselves. It does something similar to a freeze through an app, sometimes instantly, but it is a contractual arrangement rather than a statutory right, and some versions are bundled into paid monitoring subscriptions.

The practical distinction we would keep in mind is that a freeze is backed by federal law, with response times the bureaus are legally obliged to meet. A lock is governed by terms and conditions the company can change.

You can have a freeze and a fraud alert at the same time, and there is no reason not to.

Gather what you need first: your full name, current and recent addresses, date of birth and Social Security number. Each bureau will also ask knowledge-based questions drawn from your credit history to confirm who you are.

Freeze with Equifax, either online through its freeze centre, by phone, or by post. Create an account or use the freeze option without one, and record the confirmation.

Freeze with Experian, using its own separate freeze page and process. This is a fresh identity verification — nothing carries over from Equifax.

Freeze with TransUnion, again separately. At this point all three are frozen and the protection is meaningful.

Store your PINs and login details somewhere you will find them again. Some bureaus issue a PIN required to lift the freeze later; losing it means an identity verification process by post, which is slow and precisely the thing you do not want when a mortgage application is waiting.

Consider freezing at the secondary bureaus as well. Innovis and the National Consumer Telecom and Utilities Exchange hold data used by some lenders and utility providers, and freezes there are also free.

You do not remove a freeze permanently to apply for credit. You lift it temporarily, and by law the bureaus must act within one hour when you ask online or by phone. By post it takes up to three business days.

Ask the lender which bureau it pulls from. If you know, you can lift the freeze at that one bureau only. If you do not, lift all three for the period of the application.

Most bureaus let you lift for a specified window — a few days or a week — after which the freeze restores itself automatically. This is safer than lifting indefinitely and forgetting.

Plan around it for anything large. Mortgage applications often involve pulls from all three, and a car dealership may run several lenders at once, so lift before you arrive rather than at the desk.

The one-hour rule is why the common objection to freezing — that it will get in the way — has not held true for years. In practice it is a minor inconvenience a handful of times a year.

A child's Social Security number is unusually attractive to identity thieves precisely because nobody checks it. Fraud on a minor's file can run undetected for a decade and is often discovered when they apply for a first card, a student loan or a phone contract at eighteen.

Federal law lets a parent or guardian request a free freeze for a child under sixteen. If no file exists — which is normal — the bureau creates one specifically in order to freeze it.

The process is by post rather than online at most bureaus, because it requires documentary proof: the child's birth certificate, their Social Security card, and proof of your own identity and authority.

The same right applies to guardians, conservators and those holding a valid power of attorney acting on behalf of a protected adult.

It stays in place until the child or an authorised adult removes it, so it can simply be left until they need credit themselves.

Freezing one bureau and stopping. This is the single most common error, and it leaves you largely unprotected because lenders choose which bureau to pull from.

Confusing a lock with a freeze. If you did not see the word freeze or security freeze, check what you actually placed.

Losing the PIN. Store it with your other important documents, not in an email you will delete.

Assuming a freeze covers existing-account fraud. Check statements regularly regardless, and report unauthorised charges promptly — liability limits depend on how quickly you report.

Not checking your reports. You are entitled to free reports from all three bureaus, and AnnualCreditReport.com is the only federally authorised source. A freeze does not stop you accessing your own report.

If you are already a victim, report it at IdentityTheft.gov. It generates a personalised recovery plan and an official identity theft report, which is what creditors and bureaus ask for when you dispute fraudulent accounts.