If you do only one thing to protect your identity, freeze your credit. A credit freeze is the single most effective defense against the most damaging form of identity theft: new account fraud, where a criminal uses your personal information to open credit cards, take out loans, or establish utility accounts in your name.
When your credit is frozen, lenders cannot pull your credit report. Without a credit report, they cannot approve a new account. It does not matter if a criminal has your name, Social Security number, date of birth, and address — without access to your credit file, they cannot open accounts in your name.
A credit freeze is free, takes about 30 minutes to complete across all four bureaus, and can be temporarily lifted in minutes whenever you legitimately need to apply for credit. There is no reason not to do this today.
Most people know about the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. But two more matter: Innovis, and LexisNexis Risk Solutions / SageStream. If you only freeze three, a criminal can still open accounts through lenders that check the other two. Freeze all five for complete protection.
Online: equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze
Phone: 1-800-685-1111
Time: About 5-10 minutes online
Create an Equifax account if you do not have one. Navigate to the credit freeze page. Provide your name, Social Security number, date of birth, and address. Equifax will verify your identity and activate the freeze immediately. Save your PIN — you will need it to lift the freeze later.
Online: experian.com/freeze/center.html
Phone: 1-888-397-3742
Time: About 5-10 minutes online
Create an Experian account. Navigate to the Security Freeze page. Provide your identification information. Experian may require additional identity verification. The freeze activates within one business day (usually immediately online).
Online: transunion.com/credit-freeze
Phone: 1-888-909-8872
Time: About 5-10 minutes online
Create a TransUnion account. Navigate to the credit freeze section. Provide your identification information and complete identity verification. The freeze is typically activated immediately.
Online: innovis.com/securityFreeze
Phone: 1-800-540-2505
Time: About 5-10 minutes online
Innovis is the fourth bureau that most guides forget. Create an account and place a freeze just like the other three. Some lenders check Innovis instead of or in addition to the big three, so leaving it unfrozen creates a gap in your protection.
Online: consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/freeze
Phone: 1-866-897-8126
Mail: LexisNexis Risk Solutions Consumer Center, Attn: Security Freeze, P.O. Box 105108, Atlanta, GA 30348-5108
Time: About 5-10 minutes online
LexisNexis Risk Solutions is a consumer reporting agency in its own right, and it owns SageStream, a nationwide specialty bureau that lenders increasingly use for identity and risk decisions. One freeze request through the portal above covers both LexisNexis and SageStream. It does not touch Equifax, Experian, TransUnion or Innovis, so it is a genuine fifth step rather than a duplicate of the four above.
This is the bureau almost every credit-freeze guide omits. If a lender pulls LexisNexis or SageStream instead of the big three, an unfrozen file there is exactly the gap a fraudster needs.
When you need to apply for a mortgage, car loan, credit card, or any other credit product, you can temporarily lift your freeze. This is called a "thaw" and can be done online in minutes at each bureau's website. You can lift the freeze for a specific time period (one day, one week, etc.) and it automatically re-freezes after that period expires. You can also lift the freeze for a specific lender if you know which bureau they check.
Ask your lender which bureau they pull reports from. You may only need to lift one freeze rather than all four. After the lender completes their pull, the freeze goes back into effect automatically or you can re-freeze manually.
A credit freeze is the foundation of identity protection, but it is not the complete solution. After freezing your credit, consider these additional steps:
Opt out of prescreened credit offers at OptOutPrescreen.com. This stops the pre-approved credit card offers that arrive in your mailbox — offers that could be intercepted by mail thieves and used to open accounts in your name.
Register on the National Do Not Call Registry to reduce telemarketing calls, which are often used for social engineering and scam attempts.
Request a free copy of your credit report from each bureau at AnnualCreditReport.com to check for any accounts or inquiries you do not recognize.
Sign up for USPS Informed Delivery at InformedDelivery.usps.com to receive daily images of your incoming mail and alerts if someone files a change of address for your property.
Remove your personal information from data broker websites. A credit freeze prevents new accounts from being opened, but it does not prevent your name, address, phone number, and relatives from being displayed on people-search sites. Data broker removal addresses the root cause — the availability of your personal information to criminals, stalkers, and scammers.
A credit freeze locks the door. Data broker removal takes your house off the map. Both are necessary for comprehensive identity protection.
Vigilant Privacy helps you freeze your credit at all 4 bureaus with direct links and step-by-step guidance, then removes your data from 1,505 data brokers, requests disclosures from 37 consumer reporting agencies, and monitors for re-listing. $9.95/month.
Start Your Free 7-Day TrialNo credit card required. Cancel anytime. We never sell your data.