Why A Credit Freeze Won't Prevent Identity Theft

MoneyTips

We all like getting things for free, especially when the free items or services are valuable. Thanks to legislation that was signed in May 2018, Americans have another free service that they can use as often as they like – applying for a credit freeze. As of September 21, 2018, it no longer costs money to freeze or thaw your credit.

A credit freeze stops any potential lenders from accessing your credit report. If a lender can't assess your risk, they won't lend money to you – or to an identity thief pretending to be you. When you want to make a legitimate credit request, you "thaw" your account for as long as you need to get your credit source approved, and then re-apply the freeze.

Simply place a credit freeze with each of the major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) and you're all set ... right?

Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Identity thieves have man...

from MoneyTips https://ift.tt/2CsizIW