There has been a big boom in the incidence of cyber fraud, in which case you can lock your personal information and credit score through credit freeze.
Credit freeze: In current times, avoiding cyber fraud is a big challenge in itself. Due to digitization, the complete data of most people is online and in such a situation there is always a fear of being a victim of fraudsters. In view of this, people are now becoming more cautious in sharing their personal information.
In such a time, credit freeze can be helpful in preventing the theft of your data. If you believe that your data may be stolen, you can freeze or lock your credit report with the credit bureau.
Credit freeze saves your credit report from any possible data breeches. This eliminates the risk of fraudsters opening credit accounts in your name.
What is credit freeze?
By committing credit freeze, fraudsters do not steal your identity and are not able to open an account in your name in the wrong way.
Actually, through credit freeze, your credit information gets locked. In such a situation, fraudsters are not able to access your information. In this way, they are not able to fraud with your information.
How does this work?
Suppose a person named Ravi does not want to share his personal information, including his credit information, with anyone other than his bank. In such a situation, he can request all the credit reporting agencies to freeze his credit report.
This means that their credit report will not be shared with anyone except their authorized financial institutions.
You will have to contact all credit bureaus like Cibil, Equifax or Experian. They all have different procedures and you will have to talk to get your credit report freeze accordingly.
What will happen next?
Even after credit freeze, your information will remain open for certain units including your bank.
You can get your credit information and you can get a free credit report according to your choice. Institutions from which you have taken loan can also get this information.
Profits and losses
Credit freeze prevents your data from being stolen. With this, new banks or institutions are not able to get your credit information without your approval.
But on the other hand, to remove the credit freeze, you will have to contact all the credit bureaus once again. This may take some time.
Credit freeze also holds your other preferences. Especially if you apply for a credit card, personal loan or home loan, then there may be a problem for you.