How to Place and Remove an Equifax Credit Freeze

Placing a credit freeze is one of the simplest, yet most effective things to do in order to protect yourself from credit fraud. Equifax is one of the three main credit bureaus and allows you to place one of the five different freezes.

Credit freezes are not the same as credit locks, or credit monitoring. Credit freezes offer the most protection and are completely free.

This article will show you how to place a freeze on your Equifax credit report, how to view that report, and how to lift the freeze as needed.

Freezing your credit report

Before you start, make sure you have these available because they may be needed to complete login creation.

• Your cell phone or email ready to receive a verification code.
• Access to a previous credit report (if possible)

For those who don’t have an account with Equifax:

1. Visit https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/
2. Click “Get started with a freeze”
3. Enter your information (make sure you enter everything correctly the first time, it may not let you try again without contacting support)
4. Enter identity verification questions (answering these incorrectly may result in you needing to contact support)
5. Use your phone to receive verification code.
6. Once into the site, on the righthand side, click “Place a freeze”
7. On this page, click “Place a freeze”, and then “Place a freeze” again.
8. That’s it! Your Equifax credit report is now frozen

For those who have an account with Equifax:

1. Visit https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/
2. Click “Manage a freeze”
3. Enter your Equifax login information
4. Once into the site, on the righthand side, click “Place a freeze”
5. On this page, click “Place a freeze”, and then “Place a freeze” again.
6. That’s it! Your Equifax credit report is now frozen

Check your Equifax credit report

Something you should get into the habit of is checking your credit report for potential fraud, especially if you’ve never looked at it before.

1. To check your credit report, login through the freeze page https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/
2. Click “Manage a freeze”
3. Log in using your account information
4. Once logged in, click “credit report” on the left sidebar.
5. Click “request new report”, then use the sidebar to look at each type of account and your personal information
6. Scroll through it and look for any abnormalities, such as: lines of credit you don’t recognize, incorrect addresses, or atypical overdrawn accounts.

Equifax credit freeze removal

Now that your credit freeze is set up, how do you remove it?

Although credit freezes are supposed to be lifted instantly, if you are lifting your freeze in preparation for a credit application, try to lift it at least a day in advance to avoid any issues.

1. Visit https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/.
2. Click “Manage a freeze”
3. Log in using your account information
4. Click “Manage a freeze” on the right side.
5. Click “Manage a freeze”, then temporarily lift a security freeze or permanently remove a security freeze, depending on what you’re trying to do.
6. Your freeze is now removed!

Equifax phone number for credit freeze

You can also lift your freeze over the phone if you’d like

To lift your Equifax freeze over the phone, call (888) 378-4329

Note: Equifax may try to phase out this method, but as of 3/14/23, it still works.

Other important freezes

If you haven’t already, be sure to place the other four important freezes to maximize your credit’s security.

Experian

TransUnion

Innovis

NCTUE (National Consumer Telecom & Utilities Exchange)

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