How to Freeze Your Credit for Free in About 10 Minutes

A credit freeze is one of the strongest, simplest tools you have against identity theft, and it costs nothing. Since September 2018, federal law has required Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion to let you freeze and unfreeze your credit for free. Yet plenty of people still have not done it, often because it sounds technical or because they assume it will cause trouble the next time they need a loan.

It is neither. A freeze simply blocks most new lenders from pulling your credit report, which makes it much harder for a thief to open a card or loan in your name. If you have a phone, an email address, and about 10 minutes, you can freeze your credit at all three bureaus today. Here is exactly how, step by step.

What a freeze does and does not do

Before you start, it helps to know what you are signing up for. A freeze restricts access to your credit report for new credit applications. Most lenders will not approve a new account without checking your report, so a freeze stops most fraudulent applications cold.

A freeze does not hurt your credit score. It does not close your existing accounts or stop you from using your current cards. Your existing lenders can still see your report to manage your accounts, and you can still check your own reports for free. It also does not stop every kind of fraud. Someone who steals your card number can still use it, so you still need to watch your statements.

Step 1: Gather what you need

Each bureau will ask you to verify your identity. Have these ready before you begin:

• Your full name, current address, and addresses from the past two years
• Your Social Security number and date of birth
• An email address and a mobile phone number you can access right now
• A password manager or a safe place to record new logins

The process is faster if you do all three bureaus in one sitting, so set aside a short block of time when you will not be interrupted.

Step 2: Freeze at Equifax

Go to the Equifax website and look for the credit freeze or security freeze page, or call 1-888-298-0045. Online, you will usually create a free account, answer a few identity questions, and then switch the freeze on. Make sure you are placing a free security freeze, not signing up for a paid monitoring product. Bureaus sometimes promote paid services on the same pages, and you do not need them to freeze your credit.

When you finish, look for a confirmation message or email. Save it, and write down the login details for your account.

Step 3: Freeze at Experian

Next, visit Experian's freeze center at experian.com/freeze or call 1-888-397-3742. The process is similar: create or sign in to an account, verify your identity, and place the freeze. If a screen offers a paid lock or monitoring plan, look for the free freeze option instead.

Experian may give you a PIN or ask you to manage the freeze through your online account. Either way, record how you will lift it later.

Step 4: Freeze at TransUnion

Finally, go to TransUnion's credit freeze page or call 1-888-909-8872. Create or sign in to your account, confirm your identity, and turn the freeze on. Again, save the confirmation and your login information.

Freezing at one bureau does not freeze the others. Each bureau keeps its own file, and a lender might check any one of them, so all three are needed for full protection.

If a website cannot verify your identity, do not give up. That happens to people who recently moved, changed their name, or have a thin credit file. You can call the phone number instead, or request a freeze by mail with copies of documents that prove your identity and address, such as a driver's license and a recent utility bill. It takes longer, but the freeze is just as strong.

One safety note: type each bureau's web address yourself or use the phone numbers above. Scammers sometimes run look-alike websites and ads that promise to freeze your credit. The real bureaus do not charge for a freeze, so any site that asks for payment to place one is a red flag.

Step 5: Store your logins and know how to lift the freeze

This step is easy to skip and painful to forget. When you need to apply for a mortgage, car loan, new credit card, or even some apartments and phone plans, you will need to lift the freeze. That means signing back in to each bureau.

Keep your usernames, passwords, and any PINs in a password manager or a secure written record at home. Do not save them in an unprotected note on your phone or in your email inbox, where a hacker might find them.

Under federal rules, when you request a lift online or by phone, the bureau must lift the freeze within one hour. Requests by mail can take up to three business days. You can usually choose to lift it for a set period, such as a week, or remove it entirely and freeze again later.

A handy trick is to ask the lender which bureau it will check. If it only uses one, you can lift the freeze at that bureau alone and keep the other two in place. When you are done applying, freeze again or let the temporary lift expire on its own.

Step 6: Consider freezing for your kids and at specialty agencies

Children are attractive targets for identity thieves because nobody checks their credit for years. Parents and guardians can request a free freeze for children under 16. The process usually requires mailing or uploading proof of your identity and your child's, such as a birth certificate and Social Security card.

Some people also choose to freeze their files at specialty reporting agencies. ChexSystems, which many banks use when you open a checking account, offers a free security freeze. The National Consumer Telecom and Utilities Exchange, used by some phone and utility companies, does as well. These are optional, but they add another layer for anyone worried about fraud.

Freeze, fraud alert, or lock?

You may hear about two related options. A fraud alert is free and tells lenders to take extra steps to verify your identity before opening an account. You place it at one bureau, which must notify the other two, and a basic alert lasts one year. It is weaker than a freeze, since lenders can still pull your report.

A credit lock works much like a freeze, but it is a product offered by the bureaus, sometimes bundled with paid subscriptions, and it does not carry the same federal guarantees. For most households, the free freeze is the better choice.

Ten minutes well spent

Once your credit is frozen at all three bureaus, you can go back to life as usual. Check your free credit reports from time to time at AnnualCreditReport.com, the official site for free reports, keep your login details safe, and lift the freeze only when you need it. For a few minutes of effort and no cost at all, you close one of the easiest doors a thief could walk through.