Data breaches hit a record high in 2021. Often the goal of a data breach is to find information to help criminals commit identity theft. Enabling a credit freeze on through the three main credit agencies is the most effective way of preventing certain kinds of identity theft. Freezing your credit makes it unlikely for a criminal to be able to open a line of credit or take out a loan in your name, this is because lenders are unable to view your credit report which is a requisite step in the lending process. No report, no loan. This also goes for the individual themselves. If you are trying to take out a loan or line of credit and your credit reports are frozen, you too will also not be able to do so. You must temporarily unfreeze your credit for a short time frame in order to take out a legitimate loan or line of credit. Be sure to unfreeze it for a duration long enough to complete the application process. A credit freeze will not impact your credit score.
It is easy to freeze and unfreeze your credit report as needed via the following websites.
Freezing your credit report is helpful but not enough. Be sure to check your credit reports periodically. You may also want to consider signing up for identity theft insurance and computer anti-malware services. More to come on this soon…