Current Events > Everyone should have their credit reports frozen.

(+) Yeah! (+)

The only downsides are, at max, $30 to initiate and $30 to temporarily thaw all of them when your need to allow access to your credit reports. You and any institutions you already have credit with can still pull them. The positives are too strong to not do: namely, putting a big, impenetrable gate on anyone accessing your credit report for fraudulent reasons. It has to be done separately at each bureau, but is worth the hour to get it done.

Experian
https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
1-888-397-3742

TransUnion
Note: TransUnion is currently trying to bury their credit freeze page behind tons of links and ambiguous language, to try to sell their credit monitoring service. Don't fall for it.
https://freeze.transunion.com/
888-909-8872

Equifax
Note: Equifax has recently removed the fee to freeze your credit report with them, so there is now no reason to enroll in their offered 1 year of protection they are offering.
https://www.freeze.equifax.com
1-800-685-1111 (NY residents 1-800-349-9960 and for Canadians 1-800-465-7166)

Note that these sites and numbers are getting hammered, so you may not be able to get one or another done during certain times of the day. Keep trying.

Also note that during this process, your will get a PIN for each one. These PINs are how you thaw or unfreeze your reports. As a wise man once said, "keep it secret, keep it safe." Consider them as high security as your social security number, passport, and birth certificate.
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Informational bumpitude
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