If freezing your credit is a better way to protect your identity and the associated credit that goes along with it, how do I freeze my credit?
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1Very interesting. Of course, the first thing that came to mind was that old trick/cliche of freezing your credit cards in a block of ice. :) – George Marian Dec 9 '10 at 21:49
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2Yeah, that's cool. – MrChrister Dec 9 '10 at 22:59
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Freezing your credit is as simple as contacting each of the credit bureaus via their websites and asking for a freeze. Remember, don't get monitoring or a credit alert, get a credit freeze.
Depending on the state you live in, there will be a charge to freeze and unfreeze your credit. You will need to unfreeze your credit before you apply for a loan or anything else that somebody would access your credit report for. While you can possibly spend up to $10 per incident, this is probably worth it.
You will be given a secret key that you can use to unfreeze your credit, so store that in a safe place so you don't forget.
If you have a police report from a case of identity theft, you can do the freezing and unfreezing for free.
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The FTC has a Credit Freeze FAQ that provides some detail on what it is and how to do it. – Ben Miller Jun 20 '16 at 20:59
