Do identity theft protection services stop soft and hard pulls of credit?

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October 11th, 2010 - Posted by Tasha

Q: Do identity theft protection services stop soft and hard pulls of credit?

A: Yes, the are certain identity theft protection service that let you to set up your account to prevent soft and hard pulls of your credit reports.  In order to do this, you would need to place what's called a "security freeze" on your credit reports.  A security freeze prevents your credit report from being accessed by third parties (such as in a hard or soft pull) without your permission.  

Equifax ID Patrol includes a cool feature called Credit Report Control, which allows you to lock your Equifax credit report.  A locked credit report is basically the same as a security freeze, in that it restricts access to the report, preventing soft and hard pulls.   The difference is that this particular services allows you to set exceptions for companies that you still want to have access to your credit report.  For example, if you're applying for a mortgage and want a specific bank to have access to your file, you can set it online.  Then only the bank (and whoever else you want to access your information) will be able to see your information, while everyone is prevented.  The only downside is that it doesn't let you place security freezes on your 2 other credit reports at Experian and Transunion.

Trusted ID offers an add-on service to their existing identity theft protection service called Credit Freeze.  The service is an extra cost (the cost varies by state), but it allows you to lock/freeze all 3 of your credit reports.   However, unlike Equifax's Credit Report Control, you can't allow specific entities access to your credit report.  Trusted ID's Credit Freeze is more like a true security freeze, as no one will be able to access your credit reports.

Although setting a security freeze or lock on your credit report is a strong identity theft prevention step to take, you should be aware that it literally prevents anyone from accessing your credit report.  This means that if you actually want someone to see your information, such as a potential lender, you will need to go through the steps to unfreeze your report (unless you're using Equifax's Credit Report Control, which allows to you set the people you want to see your report).  The unfreezing can take up to a week.

If you haven't actually been a victim of identity theft, you may want to consider just signing up for one of our top reviewed services instead.  These services will actively monitor your credit reports 24/7 and alert you of any changes, thereby helping to prevent identity theft.