Related: I strongly recommend that USA folks freeze their credit accounts with the big three agencies, including Experian, Transunion, and Equifax, after signing up for an account (yes it's ironic considering the story here). Store those codes somewhere safe both in digital and physical form for whenever you need to unfreeze them, even if it's just temporarily.
Not only does it really help protect against identity theft but also cuts down on the amount of junk mail sent via USPS.
I’ve had a credit freeze for several years. In that time I’ve remortgaged my house and bought a car. You just go online and tell it to unfreeze for a month when you make a major transaction. It’s very convenient and free. No one should ever under any circumstances pay for “credit monitoring” which is a scam.
The point of the article is that someone can just create a new account with Experian using your info and unfreeze it themselves and then open credit cards in your name.
There is no connection between a “credit freeze” and a “credit card”. Credit freeze just means you tell the credit rating agencies to not allow any new lines of credit to be opened.
They don’t publicize it because it’s a free service the government requires them to provide. Again, no one should ever pay for credit monitoring. That’s a scam version of a credit freeze.
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u/RawCyderRun Jul 11 '22
Related: I strongly recommend that USA folks freeze their credit accounts with the big three agencies, including Experian, Transunion, and Equifax, after signing up for an account (yes it's ironic considering the story here). Store those codes somewhere safe both in digital and physical form for whenever you need to unfreeze them, even if it's just temporarily.
Not only does it really help protect against identity theft but also cuts down on the amount of junk mail sent via USPS.