Written & reviewed by External Legal AI · Updated June 26, 2026
A credit freeze blocks lenders from pulling your credit file to open new accounts — which stops most new-account identity theft cold. Since a 2018 federal law, freezes are free at all three national bureaus, placing one takes minutes, and lifting it when you actually want credit takes about an hour. It's the single highest-value free protection in consumer credit.
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c-1, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion must place and lift security freezes free of charge. There's no shortcut, though: a freeze at one bureau does nothing at the other two, so all three get frozen separately, online, by phone, or by mail.
A freeze blocks new creditors from accessing your file, which is what stops fraudulent new accounts. It doesn't touch your credit score, existing cards and loans, your own access to your reports, or access by companies you already do business with, collectors, and certain screeners. Fraud on existing accounts still needs its own monitoring.
A 'lock' is a bureau's app-based product that does roughly the same thing under a contract instead of a statute — sometimes bundled with paid monitoring. A fraud alert doesn't block access at all; it tells lenders to verify identity first, lasts a year (seven with an identity theft report), and one bureau relays it to the others. The freeze is the strongest of the three, and the one with federal teeth.
When you apply for a card, loan, apartment, or phone plan, the freeze thaws on request — federal law requires bureaus to lift within one hour for online or phone requests. Thaws can be temporary (a date window) and targeted to one bureau if you know which one the lender pulls. Keep the PINs or account logins from each bureau somewhere findable.
Children are prime identity-theft targets because nobody checks their credit for years. The same federal law lets a parent or guardian ask the bureaus to create and freeze a file for a child under 16, free — the freeze then sits there until the child is old enough to need credit.
More on this topic: the Scams & Fraud hub
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