Episode•October 4, 2022•8 min

Tiffany's Take: How Do I Freeze My Credit Report? | Ep. 143

Every Tuesday, Tiffany answers one of your submitted questions. To submit a question for an upcoming episode, visit here: https://www.moneytalkwitht.com/asktiffany. Connect with Tiffany on Social Media Facebook: Money Talk With Tiff Twitter: @moneytalkwitht Instagram: @moneytalkwitht LinkedIn: Tiffany Grant This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

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Key Takeaways

1
Freezing your credit report prevents unauthorized hard inquiries and fraud
When frozen, companies cannot pull your credit for new applications like houses, cars, or credit cards
Hard inquiries are blocked until you manually unfreeze your report
This serves as a personal identity protection strategy without needing paid services
2
Freezing credit creates a natural pause that protects you from impulsive financial decisions
Example: Tiffany was offered a new service at Walmart but the freeze prevented the inquiry, giving her time to reconsider a $5/month savings that wasn't worth it
Forces you to think through major purchases like cars because you must go through the unfreeze process first
3
You must freeze your credit at all three major bureaus individually
The three bureaus are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion
Each has its own freeze process accessible through their websites
Freezing can be done indefinitely and is easily reversible when needed
4
Unfreezing can be temporary for specific time periods
You can unfreeze for a certain day or amount of time rather than permanently
Example: Unfreeze for a couple of days when car shopping so the dealership can run reports, then it automatically refreezes

Intro

In this Tiffany's Take episode, Tiffany answers a listener question about how and why to freeze your credit report as a protective measure against fraud and unauthorized inquiries.
Tiffany Grant is a financial coach and host of the Money Talk with Tiff podcast, providing practical personal finance advice.

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– Why Freeze Your Credit Report

Main reason is fraud prevention - freezing shuts down your credit so no one can apply for new credit in your name.

Secondary benefit: protects you from yourself by requiring deliberate action before making major financial decisions.

It actually protects you from yourself. So instead of going willy nilly, just, oh, yeah, let me try this. Let me try that.
– Tiffany

Once you have major accounts like house and car established, you typically don't need ongoing credit access, making freezing practical.

– How to Freeze at Each Bureau

You must visit each bureau's website individually to freeze your credit report.

Go to Experian.com
Click Credit Support > Security Freeze
Create free account or sign in
Answer identity verification questions

Go to TransUnion.com
Click Products > Freeze Credit Report
Select Add a Freeze
Provide personal details including last 4 of SSN

Equifax: Similar process through their Credit Support section, though website was experiencing issues during recording.

All three bureaus ask similar verification questions based on your credit history - be prepared with accurate address history and personal details.

– Unfreezing Your Credit

Unfreezing is done through the same websites where you froze your credit.

You can choose to unfreeze for a specific day or time period rather than permanently.

I'll unfreeze for a couple of days just so they can run their reports and everything that they need, their hard inquiry, and then it'll refreeze.
– Tiffany

This ensures that if a company doesn't pull your credit immediately, they won't gain access later.

Resources

Topics

credit freezecredit reportsidentity protectionfraud preventionpersonal financecredit bureausfinancial securityhard inquiries