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    5 min read 6 stepsMay 9, 2026Verified May 2026

    Freezing Your Credit at All Three Bureaus and Setting a Fraud Alert

    A credit freeze blocks new accounts from being opened in your name. It is free, fast, and the single strongest move after a scam exposes your data.

    At a Glance

    Category
    Tips & Tricks
    Difficulty
    Beginner
    Read Time
    5 min read
    Steps
    6
    Topics covered
    credit-freeze
    fraud-alert
    equifax
    experian
    transunion
    scam-recovery
    identity-theft

    In this guide (6 steps):

    1. 1.Freeze with Equifax
    2. 2.Freeze with Experian
    3. 3.Freeze with TransUnion
    4. 4.Add a one-year fraud alert at one bureau
    5. 5.Pull your credit reports for free at annualcreditreport.com
    6. 6.Set a calendar reminder to renew the fraud alert in 11 months
    1

    Freeze with Equifax

    ~28s
    Go to equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services. Click Place a Security Freeze. You will create an account, verify your identity with security questions about your past addresses and accounts, and set a PIN you will use to lift the freeze later. Write the PIN down on paper and keep it with your scam recovery folder. You can also call 1-800-685-1111. The freeze takes effect within one business day.

    Quick Tip

    Quick Tip: Use a strong password for the bureau account. The bureau accounts hold sensitive data, so do not reuse a password from another site.

    2

    Freeze with Experian

    ~20s
    Go to experian.com/freeze. Click Add a Freeze. The site walks through identity verification using questions only you would know (former addresses, loan amounts, mortgage details). At the end you receive a 10-digit PIN. Save it. The phone number is 1-888-397-3742. The Experian freeze is the only one that gives you a PIN by default. The others let you set your own.
    3

    Freeze with TransUnion

    ~17s
    Go to transunion.com/credit-freeze. Click Add a Freeze. TransUnion lets you set your own PIN. The phone number is 1-888-909-8872. After all three are done, no new account can be opened in your name without one of the bureaus being thawed first. Keep all three PINs in the same secure place.
    4

    Add a one-year fraud alert at one bureau

    ~25s
    On top of the freeze, set a one-year fraud alert. Call any one bureau (say Equifax at 1-888-766-0008) and ask for a fraud alert. They are required by law to notify the other two bureaus, so one call covers all three. The alert lasts 12 months and renews on request. It tells lenders to verify your identity directly before opening any account. This is a belt-and-suspenders approach on top of the freeze.
    5

    Pull your credit reports for free at annualcreditreport.com

    ~31s
    Go to annualcreditreport.com — the only official free credit report site. Federal law gives you one free report per bureau every 12 months, and as of 2026, weekly free reports are still available. Pull all three. Look for any account, inquiry, address, or employer you do not recognize. Anything unfamiliar is a potential identity theft and needs to be disputed in writing with that bureau using your FTC report number.

    Warning

    Avoid lookalike sites like freecreditreport.com or sites that ask for a credit card. annualcreditreport.com is the only one mandated by federal law to be free.

    6

    Set a calendar reminder to renew the fraud alert in 11 months

    ~20s
    Fraud alerts expire after 12 months. Put a reminder on your phone or kitchen calendar for 11 months from today to call back and renew. If you have filed an FTC identity theft report at IdentityTheft.gov, you qualify for an extended seven-year alert instead, which is a stronger option for serious cases.

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    If a scammer got your Social Security number, date of birth, or enough personal information to open accounts in your name, a credit freeze is the strongest defense available to you. A freeze blocks the three major credit bureaus from sharing your credit file with lenders. No lender means no new credit card, loan, mortgage, or store account can be opened in your name without you lifting the freeze first. Federal law made credit freezes free at all three bureaus in 2018, and they remain free today.

    There are three credit bureaus in the United States: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Each one keeps its own file on you. A freeze at one does not freeze the others. You need to do all three. Each takes about 10 minutes online or 20 minutes by phone. Once frozen, your existing credit cards keep working normally. Your bank accounts work normally. Your credit score does not drop. The only thing that changes is that new credit applications get blocked at the bureau level.

    A fraud alert is a related but lighter tool. A one-year fraud alert tells lenders to take extra verification steps before opening any new account in your name. It is free, lasts one year, renews on request. And you only have to call one of the three bureaus to set it (they share it with the other two). A fraud alert is good if you are not ready for a full freeze. An extended seven-year alert is available if you have filed an FTC identity theft report.

    Some victims hesitate to freeze because they worry it will block their own activity. It will not affect daily life unless you are about to apply for new credit. If you do plan to apply for a mortgage, car loan, or new credit card, you lift the freeze for that application using a PIN, then re-freeze. Lifting takes about an hour online.

    A freeze is not the same as locking. Bureaus sell credit lock products under various brand names with monthly fees. The free federal freeze does the same job and is the one you want.

    (Sources: Federal Trade Commission — Credit Freeze FAQs; Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion official consumer pages; Fair Credit Reporting Act)

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