What a freeze does and does not do
A freeze tells the bureau to refuse access to your credit file for new-credit underwriting. A fraudster with your stolen SSN applies for a card, the issuer tries to pull your report, the pull fails, the application dies. That is the whole mechanism, and it is the single most effective consumer defense against new-account fraud.
A freeze does not affect your credit score, and it does not touch your existing accounts. Your current card issuers can still review your file, you can still use every card you have, and account-review soft pulls still go through. Prescreened offers may still arrive unless you opt out separately at OptOutPrescreen.com.
A freeze also does not stop everything. It does nothing about fraud on accounts you already hold, nothing about tax refund fraud or benefits fraud, and nothing at lenders who use a bureau you did not freeze. It is the strongest single tool, not a force field.
- ▸Blocks new-credit pulls, which kills most fraudulent applications
- ▸No score impact, no effect on existing accounts
- ▸Does not cover existing-account fraud or non-credit identity theft
Free by law, and the secondary bureaus worth freezing
Since federal law changed in 2018, placing, thawing, and lifting freezes is free at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, with no conditions. Each bureau requires its own freeze, set up through its own site or phone line. Create an online account at each bureau while you are at it, because online accounts make thawing take minutes instead of days.
The big three are not the only databases lenders use. Several secondary bureaus are worth freezing for a more complete perimeter. Innovis is a fourth credit bureau some lenders check. ChexSystems screens bank account openings, and freezing it blocks fraudulent checking accounts. LexisNexis Risk Solutions powers identity verification for many lenders and insurers. Early Warning Services, owned by the big banks, screens bank account applications and powers Zelle enrollment.
Each accepts a free freeze through its own process. The secondary freezes occasionally cause friction, for example when a legitimate bank application cannot verify you through LexisNexis, so expect an extra thaw step now and then. For most people the tradeoff is worth it.
- ▸Equifax, Experian, TransUnion: free freeze, one per bureau
- ▸Innovis: the quiet fourth credit bureau
- ▸ChexSystems and Early Warning: block fraudulent bank accounts
- ▸LexisNexis: identity verification backbone for many lenders
How to freeze and how to thaw
Freeze online at each bureau's security freeze page. You will verify identity, create an account, and the freeze takes effect immediately when done online. Phone and mail work too but take longer. Save your account credentials and any PINs somewhere durable, because losing them turns a five-minute thaw into a mailed-documents process.
Thawing works the same way in reverse. You can lift a freeze permanently, for a date range, or for a single creditor at some bureaus. The date-range thaw is the workhorse: open a window of a few days around an application, and the freeze re-arms itself automatically when the window closes.
By law, online and phone thaw requests must take effect within one hour. In practice online thaws are near-instant. Mail requests take days, which is another reason to set up online access before you need it.
The churner workflow: thaw the right bureau before applying
If you apply for cards regularly, freezes are still worth running. The workflow: keep all bureaus frozen by default, then thaw only the bureau the issuer is likely to pull, only for a short window, right before you apply.
Use known pull patterns to pick the bureau. Applying for an Amex card: thaw Experian. Chase: thaw Experian first, though some states see TransUnion or Equifax. Citi: thaw Equifax and consider Experian. Capital One pulls all three, so thaw everything for that one. Patterns vary by state and change over time, so check recent community data points before each application.
If you guess wrong, the issuer cannot pull your file and the application typically pends or dies with a letter telling you which bureau was frozen. That is recoverable: thaw the named bureau and call the issuer's reconsideration line. Annoying, not fatal. A short thaw window of three to seven days covers most pulls including any second-bureau check the issuer runs.
- ▸Default state: all bureaus frozen
- ▸Before applying: thaw the expected bureau for a few days
- ▸Capital One: thaw all three
- ▸Wrong guess: the denial letter names the frozen bureau, thaw and reconsider
Freeze vs fraud alert vs paid lock products
A freeze blocks the pull. A fraud alert allows the pull but tells the lender to verify your identity first. The freeze is stronger, free, and permanent until you lift it. Fraud alerts make sense in specific situations covered in our fraud alerts guide, but for ongoing default protection, the freeze wins.
Then there are the lock products: Experian CreditLock, TransUnion's lock products inside paid bundles, and Equifax Lock and Alert. A lock does roughly what a freeze does, with a slicker app toggle, and the paid versions exist to monetize a thing federal law already makes free. The legal footing also differs: freezes are governed by federal statute, locks by the bureau's terms of service.
There is no good reason to pay for a lock. Set up free freezes at all three bureaus, keep your logins, and skip the subscription.
- ▸Freeze: free, federal law, blocks pulls
- ▸Fraud alert: free, allows pulls with identity verification
- ▸Paid locks: repackaged freezes, skip them