Lifting a credit freeze with equifax Offline#
Lifting a credit freeze with equifax free#

I made more progress, but still fell short of success.Īt Experian's website, I supplied (yup, you guessed it) my name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, and email address. What's left? I contacted the other two credit rating agencies to see if it would be any easier to freeze my credit with them.

Lifting a credit freeze with equifax free#

I wanted to enroll in the free monitoring service on Wednesday, but this was as far as I got. I was told that I would receive an email within a few days with a link to finalize my enrollment. (It didn't ask for my credit card number.)īut that's as far as I got. To start the enrollment process for TrustedID, I once again submitted my name, Social Security number, and contact information in the online form. Other companies, including Experian and TransUnion, offer monitoring services and identity theft protection for a cost that usually ranges from $9.99 to $29.99 a month. This could alert me if cybercriminals are selling my Social Security number online. The service also provides up to $1 million in identity theft insurance and scans the Internet for suspicious use of my Social Security number. Those third parties are blocked if you have a real freeze in place. It would still allow access to creditors who want to make me a pre-approved offer, as well as potential employers. It acts like a less-strict version of a freeze on my Equifax credit report. The TrustedID Premier service does go a step further. Related: 5 things to do if you're worried about the Equifax breach And Equifax has made one year free for anyone who signs up before November 21. Typically, these services alert you if someone has opened an unauthorized account in your name, but only after the fact.īut it would be helpful to have in place for the time being. But Equifax has since updated its policy.)Ī monitoring service might not be necessary if I already have a freeze on my report. (Initially, signing up for the service limited your rights to sue. But when I tried again on Thursday, I received the same online message.ĭefeated, I decided to at least sign up for the credit monitoring service that Equifax is offering, TrustedID Premier.

Lifting a credit freeze with equifax Offline#

Later on Wednesday, the company issued a statement that said it was experiencing a high volume of freeze requests and that the system was offline for about an hour to address technical difficulties. An automated voice told me that all lines were busy and I was disconnected. So then I called the Equifax hotline to see if I could put set up a freeze over the phone. The thing is, I need to put a freeze in place at all three, including Equifax. This is the message I got when I tried to freeze my Experian credit report on Wednesday. Instead, the message provided contact information for the two other credit rating agencies - Transunion and Experian. Please try back later.' There was no explanation, and no number to call. We cannot process your security freeze request online at this time. But then I got this message: 'We're sorry. To put the freeze in place, I had to submit my name, date of birth, Social Security number, and address in an online form. Related: What's a credit freeze and should you do it? On Wednesday, I returned to the Equifax website to freeze my credit and finally sign up for the monitoring. I think the extra protection is worth the effort and potential hassle. But I'm not planning on opening a new loan or credit card anytime soon. In New Jersey, where I live, it costs $5. The drawback is that it could get annoying when I want to open a new account myself, requiring me to contact the credit agency to temporarily lift the freeze - and it could cost a small fee depending on your state. 'The only way to prevent new account identity theft is through a freeze,' said Mike Litt, consumer program advocate with U.S. It blocks businesses from accessing my report, as long as I don't already have an account with them. After talking to experts, I decided that I should put a freeze on my credit reports as well.