Experts agree that one of the best ways to protect yourself from fraudsters is to freeze your credit.
Credit monitoring is important too, and it catches problems after the fact. Credit freezes help prevent fraud. When you place a credit freeze, lenders can’t access your credit report without your permission.
For example, if you want to finance a car purchase, you’ll contact the credit bureau to lift the freeze temporarily for an hour so the dealership can check your credit. The lender might congratulate you for being savvy enough to freeze your credit.
If an identity thief tries to get a loan or buy a car in your name and the lender refuses because they can’t pull your credit reports, your proactivity blocked the thief! Congratulations!
Be sure to place credit freezes for the rest of your family, including your youngsters, to help stop fraudsters from taking out loans in their names too.
Read more from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2018/09/free-credit-freezes-are-here.
To make things easier, below are the contact details for the major credit reporting agencies; you can call them to request a freeze on your credit. They may offer services for fees that might be different than freezing your credit, and you might decide that a free freeze is all you need:
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 want 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.
The information shared here is not financial or legal advice, only a suggestion to protect your security. Consult with legal and financial professionals who can guide you appropriately.
Please forward this to your friends so they can protect their financial well-being by freezing their credit too!
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