Protect yourself from fraudsters by freezing credit history: Know the details

We all are vulnerable to cyber theft and data breach. Our banking is now at our fingertips and security can be compromised easily. All our data are just a click away from fraudsters. If you are worried about your banking data theft, you can freeze or lock your credit report at the different credit bureaus in the country.

What is credit freeze

Freezing of credit prevents the fraudsters from stealing an individual’s identity by opening unauthorized accounts in someone’s name.

By “freezing” credit, one mainly locks the credit information and thereby, prevents access by fraudsters.

How it works

Suppose an individual is not comfortable sharing his private details including the credit information with anyone other than the bank. For this, he can request all the credit reporting agencies for his credit report to be “frozen”.

This means the details about his credit report will not be shared with anyone except the financial institution that he has authorised.

One has to reach out to all the credit bureaus i.e. CIBIL, Equifax, or Experian separately and follow their separate processes to freeze this since each follows a different process.

Effect

After ‘credit freeze’ an individual’s credit information will still be accessible to certain entities like his/her bank or NBFC and the existing creditors. You can still access your credit information and get your free credit reports whenever you want.

Pros & cons

A credit freeze can prevent data theft as it blocks potential lenders from accessing your credit information without prior permission.

But on the other hand, for lifting the credit freeze instructions, one has to reach out to each credit bureau separately. This can be a time-consuming process.

Besides, if you plan to apply for a credit card, personal loan or a home loan, this will require you to lift the credit freeze and allow the lender to access the score. Otherwise, the application would get rejected.