How to Place a Credit Freeze

February 6, 2015

In my previous blog I discussed the differences between establishing a fraud alert and placing a Credit Freeze. In this post I will discuss some nuts and bolts on how to go about creating a Credit Freeze with the 3 major credit bureaus: TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax.

If you freeze your credit it does not effect your existing credit, such as credit cards or home equity lines of credit. Even when your credit is frozen you can continue to use your credit cards as normal.

The major benefit to freezing your credit is that it prevents anyone from running your credit report without your authorization and more importantly prevents thieves and hackers from opening lines of credit that you have not authorized. It is only recent that the 3 major credit bureaus have allowed consumers the ability to freeze their credit for a small fee (usually $10 max to freeze and unfreeze). It is usually free for victims of identity theft. The fees and policies differ slightly per state. The Credit Freeze is a very beneficial protection for older individuals to take, especially if they are not looking to buy or rent, buy a new car or get a new job in the near future.

Below is the info to take action and freeze your credit. All 3 credit bureaus allow the consumer to freeze and un-freeze their credit by: 1) phone (automated, not live people!) 2)online 3) certified mail
I checked all three agencies online and by phone and the process was very customer friendly.

TransUnion ph)888-909-8872 www.transunion.com – top of home page second option is for credit disputes, alerts and freezes. Click that tab and the info is all there.

Experian ph)888-397-3742 www.experian.com/freeze – this website provides a great definition of a Credit Freeze: “A security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans and services from being approved in your name without your consent but may also delay or interfere with or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent requests or application you make regarding new credit, loans or services.”

Equifax ph)800-685-1111 https://www.freeze.equifax.com copy and paste this link in your browser. All 3 credit bureaus have a similar process and you will receive a pin# that you will use to freeze and un-freeze your credit.

Please share this information with loved ones because it continues to amaze me how few people are aware of this action that consumers can take to protect themselves. Monitoring our credit card and bank activity is always recommended but is not comprehensive in preventing credit card fraud and identity theft.

Alexander Overkamp
Lantern Wealth Advisors

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