{"id":296,"date":"2021-03-01T21:11:42","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T02:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/georgia\/edfund\/resources\/credit-freeze-free-and-fast-way-help-safeguard-your-finances\/"},"modified":"2023-02-23T18:56:15","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T23:56:15","slug":"credit-freeze-a-free-and-fast-way-to-help-safeguard-your-finances","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/georgia\/edfund\/resources\/credit-freeze-a-free-and-fast-way-to-help-safeguard-your-finances\/","title":{"rendered":"Credit freeze \u2014 A free and fast way to help safeguard your finances"},"featured_media":13266,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":false,"_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":""},"campaign_tax":[157],"display_option":[],"issue_tax":[],"resource_type":[67],"region_tax":[],"state":[5,7,8,9,12,13,16,18,23,24,25,28,29,2,32,33,34,36,38,40,41,42,46,50,52],"topic_tax":[124],"class_list":["post-296","resource","type-resource","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"details":{"helper_taxonomies":{"topics":[124],"collection":false,"press_type":false,"person_type":false,"resource_type":67,"event_type":false,"campaigns":157,"department":false,"level":false,"states":[5,7,8,9,12,13,16,18,23,24,25,28,29,2,32,33,34,36,38,40,41,42,46,50,52],"act_option":false,"display_option":false,"primary":{"topic":124}},"subtitle":"","excerpt":"My first-hand, step-by-step guide to freezing your credit reports.","featured_image":13266,"caption_override":"","updated_on":null,"sidebar_action":"","related_event":"","hide_hero_image":false,"location":"internal","external_link":{"publication_name":"","url":""},"file":null,"sidebar_action_query_string":""},"helper_people_group":{"title":"Authors","entities":[{"type":"dynamic","dynamic_person":{"site":1,"people":"12823"},"information":{"name":"","image":null,"role":"","biography":"","contact":{"twitter":"","facebook":"","email":"","phone":""}}}]},"helper_downloads":{"title":"Downloads","files":null},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"Protecting your credit and financial data can often feel ambiguous, like a lesson that was taught one day in school when you were absent. And when a task feels unknown and daunting, it\u2019s easy to place it out of sight and out of mind and promise yourself that you\u2019ll get to it at some point. I am guilty of this myself.\r\n
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For most of my young adult life, I took the same hands-off approach with my credit as I did with my car. If the check engine light wasn\u2019t blinking or the brakes weren\u2019t grinding, I would assume everything was operating beautifully. Obviously, this wasn\u2019t the most responsible approach. If you\u2019re not taking proactive steps to change your car\u2019s oil and check your tires, you may end up with a hefty repair bill and a car that\u2019s stuck in the driveway instead of taking you where you need to go.<\/p>\r\n

Maintaining your credit and personal information is very similar, and the longer you put off those maintenance and protective tasks, the more at risk you are of running into an issue down the road. With so much of our confidential information on the internet and in the hands of potential identity thieves these days, falling victim to identity theft and fraud is incredibly common, and if it happens, you could find yourself in serious financial trouble.<\/p>\r\n

Luckily, a credit freeze is an easy step you can take to secure your credit and protect your future self. By placing a freeze on your credit reports with the three nationwide bureaus - Experian, TransUnion and Equifax -\u00a0 you can prevent anyone from opening up fake accounts or lines of credit in your name.<\/p>\r\n

Now, I could just tell you that this is a free and fast step to take, and hope that you take my word for it, but the truth is that I've also delayed freezing my credit for the same reason I stated above. So, instead of talking the talk, I\u2019m going to walk the walk by placing a freeze on all three of my credit reports and taking very careful notes. (I froze my files online. For instructions to do it by phone, see these tips<\/a>.) Hopefully, my step-by-step account will clear up some of that ambiguity and make it easier for you to do the same.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

Equifax ~ It took 6 minutes<\/h4>\r\n
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\r\n\r\nFirst, I searched for Equifax\u2019s official website,<\/a> selected the \u201cPersonal\u201d tab from the upper selection bar and scrolled down until I could select the \u201cPlace or manage a freeze\u201d button shown in the screenshot below. Even though it wasn\u2019t too difficult to find, you can direct yourself past this step using this link<\/a>.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

The next step was as straightforward as it could be to set up an account, and the autofill options made it even easier to fill in your answers. You will need the following information for this form:<\/p>\r\n\r\n