Freezing your credit is a free and basic way to protect yourself from major identity theft. You can unfreeze it at any time in a few minutes.
With a credit freeze in place at all three credit bureaus, no lender can perform a credit credit on your files. Since lenders require a credit check to extend a line of credit, a credit freeze prevents any new accounts from opening. If an identity thief had your most sensitive personal information, he or she would be unable to open a new account in your name.