May 3, 2022

Good morning, everyone!

What is a credit freeze?

With all the data breaches in the news, I’ve had people asking me about credit freeze. Good topic for this week! The FTC has a lot of good consumer protection information on their website, including a good explanation of credit freezes:

Who can place one: Anyone can freeze their credit report, even if their identity has not been stolen.

What it does: A credit freeze restricts access to your credit report, which means you — or others — won’t be able to open a new credit account while the freeze is in place. You can temporarily lift the credit freeze if you need to apply for new credit. When the freeze is in place, you will still be able to do things like apply for a job, rent an apartment, or buy insurance without lifting or removing it.

Duration: A credit freeze lasts until you remove it.

Cost: Free

How to place: Contact each of the three credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

Remember, you can also get a free credit report from all three bureaus once each year. Quoting from the FTC website:

The three national credit bureaus have a centralized website, toll-free telephone number, and mailing address so you can order your free annual reports in one place. Do not contact the three national credit bureaus individually. These are the only ways to order your free credit reports:

* visit AnnualCreditReport.com

* call 1-877-322-8228

* complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to:

Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

Only one website — AnnualCreditReport.com — is authorized to fill orders for the free annual credit report you are entitled to under law.

Remember, you can read past editions of this newsletter on our website, along with tons more information under the Resources tab.

Talk to you again soon!

Glenda R. Snodgrass
grs@theneteffect.com
(251) 433-0196 x107
https://www.theneteffect.com
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