How to freeze your credit at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion

When you apply for a credit card, loan, phone contract or some apartments, the company checks your credit report with one or more of the three national bureaus. A freeze tells the bureau to refuse those requests. A criminal with your name, date of birth and Social Security number can fill in an application, but the lender cannot see your file, so the application fails.

A freeze does not:

• Lower your credit score or show up as a negative mark.
• Stop you using your existing cards, loans or bank accounts.
• Block your current creditors, debt collectors acting for them, or certain government agencies from seeing your report.
• Stop you getting your own free credit reports.

It also costs nothing. A federal law that took effect in September 2018 made freezes and lifts free at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, for everyone in the US.

There is no single switch. You need to freeze at all three bureaus, because a lender might check any one of them. Freezing at only one leaves the other two open.

1. Equifax: go to equifax.com and look for the credit freeze link (often under "Personal" or in the site footer). You create a myEquifax account, then place the freeze from the dashboard.
2. Experian: go to experian.com and find the Freeze Center. You will create an Experian account. Experian will promote its paid products along the way; you do not need any of them to freeze.
3. TransUnion: go to transunion.com and find the credit freeze page. You set up an account in its Service Center and add the freeze there.

Each bureau will ask for your name, address, date of birth and Social Security number, and will usually ask identity questions based on your credit history ("Which of these lenders have you had a loan with?"). If you cannot pass the online check, you can freeze by phone or by mail instead. Each bureau lists its freeze phone line and mailing address on its website.

By law, a freeze requested online or by phone has to be in place within one business day. Mail requests take longer. Allow about 30 minutes to do all three online.

When you want a new card, car loan, mortgage or phone plan, log in to the bureau and "lift" or "thaw" the freeze. You can lift it for a set period, such as a week, after which it switches back on by itself. You can also remove it permanently, though there is little reason to.

Online and phone lifts must take effect within one hour under federal law, and in practice they are often near instant. To save effort, ask the lender which bureau it uses and lift only that one. Many lenders will tell you if you ask. If they do not know, lift all three for a few days.

Plenty of people keep their freeze on permanently and lift it a few times a year. We think that setup makes sense for most adults: frozen by default, thawed briefly when you need it.

A fraud alert is a lighter tool. It stays on your file and tells lenders to take reasonable steps to verify your identity before opening an account, often by calling you. It does not block access to your report, and how carefully lenders follow it varies.

An extended alert requires an identity theft report, which you can create at IdentityTheft.gov. It also entitles you to extra free credit reports. You can have a freeze and a fraud alert at the same time, and victims of identity theft often do. If you are already a victim, our guide to what to do if your identity is stolen covers the full recovery order.

Children are attractive targets because nobody checks their credit for years. A thief can use a child's SSN to build a fake credit history, and the family finds out when the child applies for a student loan or first apartment.

Parents and guardians can request a freeze for a child under 16 at each bureau. A child usually has no credit file, so the bureau creates one and freezes it. This generally has to be done by mail or with document uploads, because you need to prove both your identity and your authority to act for the child: expect to send copies of a birth certificate, the child's Social Security card, and your own ID and proof of address. Each bureau's website explains its process for minors.

Once a child turns 16, they can manage their own freeze. Remember to hand over the details, and remind them to lift it when they apply for their first card or loan. For more on protecting kids online, see online scams targeting teens.

The big three cover almost all lending decisions. A few smaller reporting agencies are worth knowing about if you want to be thorough, or if your identity has already been misused.

• Innovis is a smaller fourth credit bureau. Some lenders use it, and it offers a free freeze through innovis.com.
• NCTUE (the National Consumer Telecom and Utilities Exchange) holds data used by phone, cable and utility companies. A freeze there makes it harder for someone to open a phone or utility account in your name. See nctue.com.
• ChexSystems is used by many banks when you open a checking or savings account. A freeze there helps against someone opening a bank account in your name. See chexsystems.com.

These are extras. If you only have time for three freezes, do Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Remember that a ChexSystems freeze may need lifting when you open a new bank account yourself.

A freeze closes the most common door. It leaves several others open.

• Fraud on existing accounts. If someone steals your card number or gets into your bank login, a freeze does nothing. Use transaction alerts and two-factor authentication.
• Tax refund fraud. Someone can file a fake return with your SSN. Get a free Identity Protection PIN from the IRS (search "IRS IP PIN" or go to IRS.gov). It is a six-digit number that changes each year and must be on any return filed under your SSN.
• Medical identity theft. Someone using your insurance does not need your credit report. Read the explanation of benefits statements from your insurer.
• Account takeovers through your phone number. Lock down your mobile carrier account with a PIN and port-out protection.

Check your reports from time to time as well. Free weekly reports from all three bureaus are available at AnnualCreditReport.com, and a freeze does not prevent you from getting them. If a breach notice is what brought you here, our data breach guide covers the other steps.