The Equifax breach affects about half of America’s population, so take action. Experts agree that one of the best ways to protect yourself is to place a credit freeze on your credit reports.Credit monitoring is nice because it can tell you something bad has already happened, but prevention is important too. The FTC provides more info to you about credit freezes and why they help so much: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs

To save you time, below are shortcuts that worked on Saturday. Freeze all 4; go to all 4 sites:

Experian – To Freeze: 888-397-3742
https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html

TransUnion LLC – To Freeze: 800-916-8800
https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze

Equifax Information Services, LLC – To Freeze: 888-298-0045
equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze

Innovis – To Freeze: 866-712-4546
https://www.innovis.com/personal/securityFreeze

Shopping for new insurance: A credit freeze doesn’t affect your credit score, but it does change who can see it. If you are applying for new home or car insurance, ask prospective providers whether they need you to temporarily lift the freeze before they quote rates. If insurance companies can’t access your credit score, they may quote you a “default” rate that could be higher than what you qualify for.