Understanding Credit Freezes: Powerful, Free Security
Freezing your credit is one of the most effective ways to protect your money from fraud and identity theft.
A credit freeze restricts access to your credit report. Because lenders can’t view your credit history to approve new credit, identity thieves can’t open new accounts using your information. Best of all, it is completely free, does not harm your credit score, and leaves your existing credit accounts untouched. You can also temporarily lift the freeze whenever you need to.
Given the widespread data breaches of the last few years, securing your credit file now makes strong financial sense.
Is now the right time? If you aren’t currently applying for a mortgage, car loan, or other new credit, freezing your credit is a great move. If you have applications in progress, wait until they are approved before locking things down because a freeze prevents all new requests for your credit even if they are legitimate.