A recent class action lawsuit claims that in April 2024 hackers stole the personal information of 3 billion people, including every single existing Social Security number, in a data breach of the background check company National Public Data (NPD).
The bad news: Every American is at risk of having their identity stolen.
The good news: It takes less than 30 minutes to create accounts with the three major credit bureaus and freeze your credit.
What is a credit freeze?
Freezing your credit prevents anyone from applying for lines of credit (such as credit cards and mortgages) using your identity. You will need to request a freeze with each of the three credit reporting companies. Before you apply for new credit, you’ll need to temporarily lift the security freeze.
Freezing your credit:
- Is free
- Doesn’t impact your credit score
- Is easy and fast to un-freeze if you need to apply for credit
How to freeze your credit
You need to set up an account with each of the credit reporting companies. You can do so online or over the phone.
- Equifax: Credit Report Services | Equifax® | 888-298-0045
- Experian: http://www.experian.com/freeze | 888-397-3742
- TransUnion: https://freeze.transunion.com | 800-916-8800
Be prepared with the following information:
- Full name, including middle initial and suffix
- Social Security Number
- Date of Birth
- Current address
- Email address
How do I remove the credit freeze?
When you request your security freeze, you will be given a personal identification number or password. To remove the freeze, temporarily or permanently, contact the credit reporting company and provide that personal identification number or password.
October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, an annual collaborative effort between government and industry to ensure we have the resources you need to maintain your security online. Throughout October, we’ll be sending you tips on protecting your information and avoiding malicious attempts to extract your personal data. Visit its.weill.cornell.edu/cybersecuritymonth for more info.
Sources:
https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/credit-education/preventing-fraud/security-freeze/