Equifax Free Loan Freeze Deal Ends in Two Days
If you would like to freeze your Equifax credit report for free, do so as soon as possible.
Remember that epic Equifax hack last year? The hack has exposed the identity of 145 million adults in the United States, and the chances are high that you were probably one of them. At the time, experts recommended that victims freeze loans at all three major reporting agencies: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian, in order to protect their credit if someone decides to use the stolen information. As a sort of apology for the failure, Equifax offered affected customers to do so for free , but only until January 31st.
Freezing your credit essentially prevents lenders from accessing your report, which means they also won’t give you a new credit card or loan while it’s blocked. This does not affect your credit score or your existing accounts, but only your ability to open new ones.
If you have not already done so, you can block your Equifax credit report by going to this site or by contacting Equifax by phone. 800-685-1111 is his automated service line and 888-298-0045 will put you in touch with one of their customer service agents. When it comes to timing, the Internet is probably your best bet.
Worth noting: This will only freeze your credit report at Equifax and not the other two agencies. Freezing your credit report on the other two still costs money, but you can “freeze” your TransUnion account for free, which provides some of the same protections as freezing.
Or maybe it won’t last forever. Several bills are currently pending requiring lending agencies to provide customers with one free freeze and unfreeze on their loan each year. Unfortunately, none of these bills have been adopted yet.