What is a credit freeze?

Some, but not all states allow you to place a credit freeze with the three credit bureaus. This means that no new creditors will be able to access your credit report for any reason. Any new account that you or a potential identity thief try to open will simply not be opened. In order to place this freeze, there is usually a fee of around $10.00 that must be paid to each credit reporting agency. So it would cost around $30.00 to completely freeze your credit. If you actually do want to obtain credit, you must unfreeze your credit, which may also have a cost associated with it. Then, to freeze it again incurs another charge. Obviously this is not very convenient but if you are currently a victim of identity theft or recently had personal information stolen, it may be a good option. TrustedID, one of our recommended services, provides an easy, automated way to freeze and unfreeze your credit with each bureau, although you would still have to pay the fee. ID Patrol from Equifax lets you freeze and unfreeze your Equifax credit file as often as you want at no additional charge.

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