Place a Freeze on Your Identity Vulnerability
One of the best defenses a consumer has against identity theft is the use of a credit freeze. By placing a credit freeze on your credit, an identity thief cannot access your credit for new accounts – even if they have all of your personal information. Whether you are currently a victim of identity theft or simply want to protect yourself fully, a credit freeze is an essential tool in identity theft prevention.
How a Credit Freeze Works
A credit freeze works just as it sounds – it freezes your credit. This means that even when an identity thief has your name, date of birth, social security number and even your drivers license, they still cannot access your credit. This is because when a new lender or even retailer go to access the credit report, they are automatically notified of the credit freeze and are unable to retrieve or even look at the credit report.
One important fact to remember about a credit freeze, however, is that even the consumer cannot access their own credit. In order to utilize your credit you will have to place a temporary removal or remove the freeze entirely.
How to Place a Credit Freeze
There are three major credit reporting bureaus: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Each of these bureaus have their own specifics for how they require consumers to place a credit freeze on their reports and it is recommended that you visit their sites directly by clicking the following links:
It is important to remember that depending on the state in which you live, there are different laws regarding the placement of credit freezes as well as fees that may or may not be associated with doing such. If you are a victim of identity theft, there are many states that will allow a consumer to place a credit freeze on their reports for free, while others will require a freeze fee no matter what the case may be. The only states that currently do not allow credit freezes to be put in place are Michigan, Missouri and Alabama.
Resources:
Credit Freeze – Best Protection, www.fightidentitytheft.com, November 27, 2010, http://www.fightidentitytheft.com/credit-freeze-laws.html