# Should I Freeze my Credit? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 20, 2017, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-freeze-my-credit/799376 "2017-10-20T17:30:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-freeze-my-credit/799376/21 "2017-10-26T17:33:51Z")
Frozen with five agencies. Some were easier than others (Innovis didn’t seem to require much), but at least it’s done, and I can deal with anything that may already be on my report. (I’ve already checked one of the agencies once this year.) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-freeze-my-credit/799376/22 "2017-10-26T23:32:38Z")
I just got an e-mail from my bank – mostly a routine advertising blurb – but with an essay on this question, focused particularly on retirees: Should I freeze my credit? They say in no uncertain terms that we SHOULD freeze our credit, retirees especially, and that merely putting up a fraud alert is substantially useless. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-freeze-my-credit/799376/23 "2017-10-27T01:25:29Z")
I froze mine on John Oliver’s advice too. It was $10 each for Experian and Transunion but free for Equifax. I am in Florida. ---
**Author:** ![tallcoldone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@tallcoldone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tallcoldone)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-freeze-my-credit/799376/24 "2017-10-27T17:06:42Z")
Here’s a great how & why reference: [http://clark.com/personal-finance-credit/credit-freeze-and-thaw-guide/](http://clark.com/personal-finance-credit/credit-freeze-and-thaw-guide/) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-freeze-my-credit/799376/25 "2018-01-08T17:11:08Z")
Bumping this thread to add new info… I applied for a credit line increase on my Bank of America card. I totally forgot about the credit freeze I’d put in place. BOA called me today and the rep said they needed my TransUnion report but it was frozen. She asked if I could unfreeze it. Neither of us knew how long it would take, so she gave me a callback number. I went to the [freeze.transunion.com](http://freeze.transunion.com) Web site and logged in with the account info I’d created when I set up the freeze. It showed that I had an active freeze and gave me the option to totally remove the freeze or temporarily lift for a set time period. I chose the latter. From there I was able to set the time period (I put 2 days) and then also could have chosen a “selective lift” and probably then chose BOA but I just did “Global Lift”. I immediately got a confirmation email from TransUnion that my lift had gone through. I called back BOA, they were able to access my TransUnion report and then approved my credit line increase (yay?) I then went back to TransUnion’s site and cancelled the lift (which was set to expire in 2 days anyway). The whole thing from BOA’s initial call to me cancelling the lift took about 10 minutes. Of course, I can’t speak to the other credit bureau’s process but this was seriously quick and painless. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-freeze-my-credit/799376/26 "2018-01-08T17:32:26Z")
I froze all three back when this was all going on. Equifax took at least 100 tries and when it finally worked, I never received a code to unfreeze it, and of course nobody at Equifax can be bothered to get back to me, so I’m not sure what I’m going to do if ever I need to unfreeze that. And FUCK Equifax, just in case anyone is curious how I feel about them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-freeze-my-credit/799376.md?page=1)