{"id":306,"date":"2021-02-23T00:50:24","date_gmt":"2021-02-23T05:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/georgia\/edfund\/resources\/credit-freezes-faq-you-can-prevent-fraud-nightmare-20-minutes-2\/"},"modified":"2022-08-06T07:23:01","modified_gmt":"2022-08-06T11:23:01","slug":"credit-freezes-faq-you-can-prevent-a-fraud-nightmare-in-20-minutes","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/georgia\/edfund\/resources\/credit-freezes-faq-you-can-prevent-a-fraud-nightmare-in-20-minutes\/","title":{"rendered":"Credit freezes FAQ: You can prevent a fraud nightmare in 20 minutes"},"featured_media":13331,"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":[65],"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-306","resource","type-resource","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"details":{"helper_taxonomies":{"topics":[124],"collection":false,"press_type":false,"person_type":false,"resource_type":65,"event_type":false,"campaigns":157,"department":false,"level":false,"states":[2,5,7,8,9,12,13,16,18,23,24,25,28,29,32,33,34,36,38,40,41,42,46,50,52],"act_option":false,"display_option":false,"primary":{"topic":124}},"subtitle":"","excerpt":"Freezing your files protects you not just from someone fraudulently opening a credit card or applying for a loan in your name. It also can prevent someone from accessing your tax records with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or opening a Social Security account using your information or potentially launching a slew of other problems.\u00a0","featured_image":13331,"caption_override":"","updated_on":null,"sidebar_action":null,"related_event":null,"hide_hero_image":false,"location":"","external_link":{"publication_name":"","url":""},"file":null,"sidebar_action_query_string":""},"helper_people_group":{"title":"Authors","entities":null},"helper_downloads":{"title":"Downloads","files":null},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

by Teresa Murray, Consumer Watchdog<\/em><\/p>\n

March 2, 2021<\/em><\/p>\n

Some of your worst fraud nightmares can be prevented in about 20 minutes. That\u2019s roughly how long it takes total to freeze your credit files with the three major credit bureaus \u2014 Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. A credit freeze, also called a security freeze, prevents most entities from seeing your information in the credit bureaus\u2019 databases.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Freezing your files protects you not just from someone fraudulently opening a credit card or applying for a loan in your name. It also can prevent someone from accessing your tax records with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or opening a Social Security account using your information or potentially launching a slew of other problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to our FAQ, we\u2019re featuring step-by-step instructions<\/strong><\/a> to freeze your files, and you\u2019ll hear from U.S. PIRG Education Fund Consumer Watchdog Associate Grace Brombach on her experience freezing her files online<\/strong><\/a> for the first time.<\/p>\n

Here are answers to some of the questions you may have about credit freezes:<\/strong><\/h5>\n

How much does it cost to freeze your file?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Freezing and thawing your credit files is free, under a federal law<\/a> that took effect in September 2018. Before that, it cost anywhere from $5 to $15 in most states each time you wanted to freeze or thaw your files with any of the credit bureaus. If you were in a state that allowed a $5 fee (pretty typical), then freezing your files with all three bureaus would be $15. And if you were applying for a credit card or a new apartment a year later, you\u2019d have to pay $15 to thaw the files temporarily.<\/p>\n

Why did the law change?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Consumer groups had been advocating for free credit freezes for years. It took the Equifax data breach of 2017 to push lawmakers into action. Equifax disclosed that the credit files of about 150 million people \u2014 roughly half of the adult population \u2014 had been compromised and was in the hands of thieves.<\/p>\n

What information is in a credit file?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The credit bureaus know more about you than you could probably remember without sitting down and putting considerable thought into it.<\/p>\n

Of course, there are the basics: Name, address, telephone number, date of birth, Social Security number and your past employers.<\/p>\n

After that, things like:<\/p>\n