Freezing your credit with all three major credit bureaus is the single most important thing you can do to protect yourself against identity theft and stop criminals from opening lines of credit in your name — and it’s free!
In this article, we’ll show you how to place a security freeze on your credit with all three main credit reporting bureaus: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
We’ll also answer questions that Team Clark gets most often surrounding credit freezes and let you know about the one key step you need to take before you freeze your credit.
You’ll need to contact each of the three major credit reporting agencies individually to freeze your credit with them. You can do this online, via the phone, or through the U.S. mail.
The quickest and easiest way to freeze your credit is online. Below you’ll find direct links to the credit freeze page for each credit bureau. In addition, we’ve included phone numbers and addresses.
Credit Bureau | Online | By Phone | By Mail |
---|---|---|---|
Experian | Experian Credit Freeze page | 888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742) | Experian Security Freeze P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013 |
Equifax | Equifax Credit Freeze page | 888-298-0045 | Equifax Information Services, LLC P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348 |
TransUnion | TransUnion Credit Freeze page | 888-909-8872 | TransUnion P.O. Box 160 Woodlyn, PA 19094 |
Important note: If you choose to request your credit freeze via mail, make sure you do so by certified mail. You can use this sample letter to do it. Please be sure to include the attachments necessary to freeze your credit by mail.
In order to freeze your credit, you will need to give each credit bureau some information in order to prove your identity. This typically includes your:
You will also likely be asked some questions about prior places of residence and credit accounts you may have or have had in the past. This is all to ensure that you are actually the one requesting the freeze.
Once you’ve frozen your credit, you may find that you need to apply for a loan or open a new line of credit.
In that case, you’ll need to unfreeze (some credit bureaus may use the terms “lift” or “thaw”) your credit with one or more of the credit bureaus, depending on which one your lender uses.
Credit Bureau | Online | By Phone | By Mail |
---|---|---|---|
Experian | Experian Credit Unfreeze page | 888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742) | Experian Security Freeze P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013 |
Equifax | Equifax Credit Unfreeze page | 800-349-9960 | Equifax Information Services, LLC P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348 |
TransUnion | TransUnion Credit Unfreeze page | 888-909-8872 | TransUnion P.O. Box 160 Woodlyn, PA 19094 |
Here are some important things to keep in mind when you go to lift your credit freeze:
If you are having issues unfreezing your credit or retrieving your PIN, your goal at that point is to gain access to your account. Here’s how to get in touch with a live person at the major credit bureaus.
Team Clark’s Consumer Action Center gets a lot of calls about freezing your credit. Here are some answers to the most frequently asked questions:
As we said at the outset, freezing your credit is the most important step you can take to stop criminals from opening accounts in your name. But even with your credit frozen, you’ll still want to keep an eye out on your credit reports and scores.
That’s why money expert Clark Howard says that before you freeze your credit you should sign up for free credit monitoring with Credit Karma or Credit Sesame.
Sign up for these free tools to monitor your credit going forward to make sure your credit freeze is working as it should. Don’t pay for credit monitoring!
Experian, Equifax and TransUnion all offer credit monitoring services that cost money, but why pay when you can do it for free?
If you haven’t already frozen your credit, take a few moments today to get it done. The small amount of time you spend following these steps will be well worth it when you consider the peace of mind you’ll have going forward.
If you have more questions about freezing your credit, contact Clark’s free Consumer Action Center.
This post was last modified on January 30, 2023 1:58 pm
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