Check Your Credit Report Even If Your Loan Is Frozen
As a reminder, even if you pre-froze your credit reports, you should check them for suspicious activity every few months.
A credit freeze is a good security measure as it prevents lenders from accessing your reports. This means that if someone tries to open a financial account in your name, they will not be able to do so.
Nevertheless, the “freezing does not interfere with anyone else to use your existing account to commit fraudulent charges that are much more common,” – said Kiplinger Rod Griffin, director of public education for Experian credit bureau.
So, remember that you can get a free copy of your report from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion every 12 months at Annualcreditreport.com . This means you can check out one of them every four months to make sure none of your accounts have been compromised.
If you check your report and notice fraudulent activity (the credit freeze does not prevent you from accessing your report), you will want to notify the credit bureaus immediately. “Go to Experian.com , Equifax.com and TransUnion.com to post a temporary fraud alert in the event of suspicious activity or to dispute information in a report,” suggests Kiplinger.
And the loan freeze is free , so while it cannot prevent any fraud, it is still a prudent measure to take if you are not applying for any new lines of credit in the near future.