Locking Your Credit Report

Locking your credit is a simple approach to protect yourself from identity theft and credit fraud
by limiting the accessibility to your credit report from lenders or other entities. While a credit or
security lock is similar to a credit freeze it is much simpler to unlock at any time. That said,
freezing your credit has additional legal protection.

In order to lock your credit at the highest level you must block access from the top three national
credit bureaus- Transunion, Experian, and Equifax.

Online security expert Andy LoCascio recommends having a freeze/lock in place for all major credit unions and an alert service on at least one of them.  If you already have locked your credit and still experience a breach, it is critical you contact a security expert immediately.

Experian

Credit locking is included in their CreditWorks SM Premium subscription service. This
subscriptions CreditLock service additionally offers alert notifications if someone attempts to
apply for credit in your name when it is locked, identity theft insurance, and shares monthly
reports of monitoring activity from all 3 credit bureaus.  They also offer a free service.  Learn more here

Equifax

Lock & Alert™ is the locking program for Equifax and is free of cost. There is added simplicity
to lock and unlock your credit through their app or website.  Learn more here

TransUnion

TrueIdentity is the credit lock program for TransUnion and is also free of cost. TrueIdentity also
offers the convenience of using your phone or computer to control your credit lock. This
program offers credit report access, monitoring alerts, and up to twenty-five thousand in identity
theft insurance.

TransUnion additionally offers a paid subscription option, Credit Lock Plus which can lock
credit in both bureaus simultaneously, including additional monitoring reports as well.  Credit Lock Plus which can lock credit inTransUnion and Equifax bureaus simultaneously, including additional monitoring reports as well.  Learn more here