It is free by law, takes an hour once, and makes borrowing in your name very difficult. Almost nobody does it — including for their children.
The single most effective thing, and it is free
A credit freeze blocks lenders from pulling your credit file. Since almost nobody will open an account without checking, a frozen file makes it very difficult for anyone to borrow in your name — including you, until you lift it.
It is free by federal law at all three bureaus, it does not affect your credit score, and freezing and unfreezing are both free and fast. There is no meaningful downside and no reason to leave it off if you are not actively applying for credit.
You must do it at each bureau separately: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Budget an hour, once.
Freeze, lock, fraud alert — not the same
- Freeze — the statutory one. Free, strong, and the bureaus must honour it.
- Lock — a product the bureaus sell, sometimes bundled with a paid subscription. Similar effect, governed by their terms rather than by law. The free freeze is the better default.
- Fraud alert — asks lenders to take extra steps to verify identity. Weaker than a freeze, free, and worth adding if you have been a victim.
A child has a clean file and nobody checking it, which makes them an ideal target — the theft often goes unnoticed until they apply for a student loan at eighteen. Parents can request a freeze on a minor's file, and it is the same free process. Almost nobody does it.
What to lift, and when
Applying for a card, a car loan or a mortgage means temporarily lifting the freeze. You can lift it at a single bureau if you know which one the lender uses, or for a set window, and it is usually near-instant online.
Plan for it: lift a day before you apply, not during the appointment.
The habits that matter more than any product
- Read your credit reports. Free at AnnualCreditReport.com — the federally authorised site, not the imitators. Accounts you do not recognise are the earliest signal.
- Turn on transaction alerts on every card and account. Fraud usually starts with a small test charge.
- Use unique passwords and a password manager. Most account takeovers are reused passwords from an unrelated breach, not sophisticated attacks.
- Prefer an authenticator app over SMS codes where offered. SIM swapping is real and text messages are the weakest second factor.
- Do not authenticate to anyone who called you. Hang up and dial the number on the back of your card. No legitimate bank asks for a code you received.
If it has already happened
- Freeze all three bureaus immediately, to stop further accounts.
- Report it at IdentityTheft.gov, the FTC site. It generates an official recovery plan and an identity theft report, which you will need.
- Contact the affected institutions and dispute the fraudulent accounts in writing.
- File a police report if a creditor asks for one.
- Keep records of everything — dates, names, reference numbers. Recovery is a paperwork exercise and the paperwork is the leverage.
On paid monitoring services
They mostly tell you after the fact that something appeared on a report you can check yourself for free. A freeze prevents the account from opening at all, which is categorically more useful than being told about it quickly.
If a breached company offers you free monitoring, take it — there is no reason to refuse something free. Paying monthly for it while leaving your file unfrozen is the wrong order of operations.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rights and procedures are set by federal and state law.