I hope this helps you navigate the freeze process easily if you decide it's right for you. You don't have the option to generate your own here. Again, please print or write down the final pin they auto-generate for you offline and store it somewhere safe. Applying the three-step freeze takes only about a minute and a half on this page, first to enter information and prove you're not a robot, then to place the freeze, and finally to generate the confirmation. Initiating a credit freeze here will be the quickest and easiest because there's no need to enter payment information. If I were to search for a silver lining in this situation, it's props to Equifax for waiving the credit freeze fee given that the data breach came from them. Note that adding a lift costs you money down the line. You can revisit this security freeze link and log in in the future to add lifts to your freeze. The whole process only takes a few minutes, as above, and then you'll get a final confirmation with your pin. Here again, you can choose your own pin to write down offline and keep in a private place-6 digits is the length. This is similar to the Experian process-you'll enter some information, answer personal identification questions, and then again be prompted to pay a fee. If not, you can quickly create an account to sign up and then apply a freeze. If you already have an account with TransUnion, you can log in to initiate the freeze. Visit their Manage a State Security Freeze page. If you want to lift this freeze when you apply for credit or for a certain time window, you can call Experian and do so with the pin, which you may want to do if applying for legit credit. Depending on how many digits you used if you generated your own, Experian will convert this to a 10-digit number. Make sure you print or write down this pin and keep it in a protected place. (In California, it's $10.) You'll get a freeze confirmation and final freeze pin on the last screen. Finally, if you live in a state that requires payment for the freeze, you'll be prompted to add your credit card information to pay for the freeze. You'll continue to verify information to prove you're you (where you've lived, auto loan amounts, or employers past or present are all potential questions). You can opt to choose your own 5-10 digit pin (write it down someplace offline, please) or have them generate one for you. Visit their Add a Security Freeze page, where it's going to prompt you to add your personal information to initiate the freeze. In case you're looking for the short version of how to freeze your credit, check out the steps below. You can check out more on pros and cons here. Deciding to freeze your credit or not is, of course, up to you. But this also means: no credit report, no new account for you unless you apply a lift to the freezes. And the idea is hackers won't have your pin to lift a freeze, so your credit remains safe and intact. These breaches often sink in in levels ranging from, "Oh" to "Whoa, I'd better do something to protect myself."įreezing credit reports from the three major bureaus makes your credit reports unavailable to pull in case an account is opened in your name. It took me a couple news cycles to go to Equifax's web site and see whether my information was impacted, and then a few more news cycles to look into what's next, including precautionary credit report freezes at Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.
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