Freezing credit, or security freeze, blocks access to your credit reports, protecting against scammers’ attempts to access your credit reports and open fraudulent accounts.
When someone applies for credit using your personal information, a lender or card issuer typically checks your credit before making a decision. If your credit is frozen, the potential creditor cannot see the data required to approve the application.
Additionally, it is highly recommended that parents freeze the credit of any children under the age of 16. Since children do not have credit reports, if a scammer gains access to the child’s information, they can use the child’s identity for years without being detected.
Visit our website at unite-cu.org/financial-education for more details & instructions for freezing your credit.