The next two questions were useless for authentication purposes because they’d already been asked and answered one was “which of the following is the last four digits of your SSN,” and the other was “I was born within a year or on the year of the date below.” Only one question mattered and was relevant to my credit history (it concerned the last four digits of a checking account number). The answer to the second question also was none of the above. The first question asked about a new mortgage I supposedly took out in 2019 (I didn’t), and the answer was none of the above. KrebsOnSecurity stepped through the same process and found similar results. Thomas said he and a friend both walked through the process of recovering their freeze PIN at Experian, and were surprised to find that just one of the five multiple-guess questions they were asked after entering their address, Social Security Number and date of birth had anything to do with information only the credit bureau might know. Thomas said after several days on the phone with Experian, a company representative acknowledged that someone had used the “request your PIN” feature on Experian’s site to obtain his PIN and then unfreeze his file. Thomas said he only learned about the activity because he’d taken advantage of a free credit monitoring service offered by his credit card company. who put a freeze on his credit files last year at Experian, Equifax and TransUnion after thieves tried to open multiple new payment accounts in his name using an address in Washington state that was tied to a vacant home for sale.īut the crooks were persistent: Earlier this month, someone unfroze Thomas’ account at Experian and promptly applied for new lines of credit in his name, again using the same Washington street address. The same form can also be used to temporarily or permanently lift a credit freeze.Experian’s page for retrieving someone’s credit freeze PIN requires little more information than has already been leaked by big-three bureau Equifax and a myriad other breaches.ĭune Thomas is a software engineer from Sacramento, Calif. We recommend sending the letter via certified mail. You'll need to mail it, along with copies of your Social Security card or pay stubs showing the number, plus copies of your driver's license, utility bills or other documents showing your address, to: Print and fill out the form on this page. How to set up a credit freeze with Equifax by mail Once your freeze is set up, you'll be given a PIN that will unfreeze your credit. You'll be asked for your name, address, date of birth and Social Security number to verify your identity. Eastern time during the week, and between 9 a.m. How to set up a credit freeze with Equifax by telephoneĬall Equifax at (888) 298-0045 between 9 a.m. You won't need to set up a PIN to unfreeze it if you have an Equifax account - your username and password will be enough. Then you'll be able to freeze your credit. Make sure the password is unique and strong. Equifax will retrieve your information and prompt you to set up an Equifax account. Then you'll have to fill out personal information, including your name, address, date of birth and Social Security number. Go to the dedicated page on the Equifax website at and click "Get started with a freeze." This is the easiest way to freeze your credit with Equifax. How to set up a credit freeze with Equifax online We also have guides on how to freeze your credit with Experian and how to freeze your credit with TransUnion. Equifax doesn't let you have a credit lock and a credit freeze at the same time.īelow is how to set up an Equifax credit freeze. The difference is that Lock & Report isn't regulated by the federal government, and Equifax makes more money if it's easier to unlock your files. To do this with a credit freeze, you have to log into your account on the Equifax website. Equifax also offers a free service called "Lock & Report" that is basically the same as a credit freeze, except that there are mobile apps for iOS and Android that let you "unlock" your Equifax credit file with a swipe of a finger.
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