You Can Now Freeze Your Credit For Free

-Source-Forbes- The term security freeze commonly referred to as a credit freeze is a restriction that prohibits a consumer credit reporting agency from disclosing the contents of a credit report to any person requesting the data. Without that file lenders cant assess your creditworthiness and will not extend credit to you or anyone claiming to be you. In effect a credit freeze prevents new credit accounts from being established in your name. According to the FTC a fraud alert will tell any business that runs your credit that they should check with you before opening a new account. The legislation which was signed in May and takes effect today requires that Equifax Experian and TransUnion the three credit bureaus place a security freeze on consumer accounts at no cost to the consumer upon receiving the request. It also requires free year-long fraud alerts for those interested. If youre active duty military the credit reporting agencies must also offer free electronic credit monitoring within a year. Identity theft accounted for $16.8 billion in losses spread across 16.7 million victims in 2017 according to Javelin Strategy and Research. With identity fraud victims reaching an all-time high its prudent to take the steps to protect your financial assets.