How to lock my equifax credit report

Lock & Alert puts you in charge of who can access your Equifax credit report, with certain exceptions.¹ Quickly and easily lock and unlock your Equifax credit report with a click or swipe, and we'll alert you to confirm its status.

• Lock & Alert is free for U.S. consumers — for life.
• Lock your Equifax credit report to help better protect against identity theft.
• Applying for credit? Click or swipe to unlock. Then lock it again.
• We'll alert you each time your Equifax credit report is locked or unlocked.
• Placing a security freeze and a lock on your Equifax credit reports are two separate options you can take to limit access to your credit report. You can place a freeze or lock your Equifax credit report, but you cannot place both a freeze and lock.

If you currently have a security freeze on your Equifax credit report and want to replace it with a lock, first -- you’ll need to remove the freeze in one of the following ways:

Online, by creating a free myEquifax account at https://my.equifax.com/consumer-registration/UCSC/#/personal-info.

By phone at (888) 298-0045. You’ll be asked to verify your identity by providing certain information. You’ll also have the option to receive a one-time PIN (personal identifying number) by text message, or answer questions based on information in your Equifax credit report for identity protection.

• Having trouble or need a quick answer? Get support and find answers to frequently asked questions.
• Sign in to the Lock & Alert app using Fingerprint Sign-In. Only devices with built-in fingerprint scanners and running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or above are eligible to use this feature.

Note: If you have a myEquifax account, your Lock & Alert username and password may be different. If you're using Lock & Alert for the first time, please choose Sign up.

Disclosures

¹ Locking your Equifax credit report will prevent access to it by certain third parties. Locking your Equifax credit report will not prevent access to your credit report at any other credit reporting agency. Entities that may still have access to your Equifax credit report include: companies like Equifax Global Consumer Solutions, which provide you with access to your credit report or credit score, or monitor your credit report as part of a subscription or similar service; companies that provide you with a copy of your credit report or credit score, upon your request; federal, state and local government agencies and courts in certain circumstances; companies using the information in connection with the underwriting of insurance, or for employment, tenant or background screening purposes; companies that have a current account or relationship with you, and collection agencies acting on behalf of those whom you owe; companies that authenticate a consumer's identity for purposes other than granting credit, or for investigating or preventing actual or potential fraud; and companies that wish to make pre-approved offers of credit or insurance to you. To opt out of such pre-approved offers, visit www.optoutprescreen.com.

Editorial Note: Credit Karma receives compensation from third-party advertisers, but that doesn’t affect our editors’ opinions. Our third-party advertisers don’t review, approve or endorse our editorial content. It’s accurate to the best of our knowledge when posted.

Advertiser Disclosure

Advertiser Disclosure

We think it's important for you to understand how we make money. It's pretty simple, actually. The offers for financial products you see on our platform come from companies who pay us. The money we make helps us give you access to free credit scores and reports and helps us create our other great tools and educational materials.

Compensation may factor into how and where products appear on our platform (and in what order). But since we generally make money when you find an offer you like and get, we try to show you offers we think are a good match for you. That's why we provide features like your Approval Odds and savings estimates.

Of course, the offers on our platform don't represent all financial products out there, but our goal is to show you as many great options as we can.

Locking your credit helps prevent unauthorized access to your credit reports and may be easier and faster than a credit freeze.

Here’s how to lock your credit at each of the three major credit bureaus:

• How to lock your credit report at Equifax
• How to lock your credit report at Experian
• How to lock your credit report at TransUnion
• Pros and cons of locking your credit

How do you lock your credit at each bureau?

Unlike a credit freeze, which you can add and remove from your account as needed, a credit lock requires you to enroll in a program. To make a credit lock most effective, enroll in the programs at all three of the major consumer credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

Locking your credit costs nothing at Equifax and TransUnion if you enroll in their separate locking programs, but if you choose to use their joint program that locks both at once — and also includes credit monitoring — there’s a fee. There’s no free option from Experian, but its credit lock program also comes with additional features like credit monitoring that may make the cost worth it to you.

To enroll in a credit locking program, you’ll fill out an online form that requires personal information like your name, address and Social Security number, and then you’ll answer some identity-verification questions.

Here’s how each bureau’s credit locking program works and how to enroll.

How to lock your credit report at Equifax

Equifax’s credit lock program is called Lock & Alert™, and it’s free. Once enrolled via the Equifax website, users can lock their credit themselves on the app or the website, without additional help from Equifax. If you want to apply for new credit, or a new employer or landlord needs to run your credit, you can temporarily unlock your credit report just as easily.

How to lock your credit report at Experian

Experian’s program, CreditLock, is offered as part of a larger service, Experian CreditWorksSM Premium. It costs $4.99 the first month, and $24.99 a month after that. The program comes with other perks, like credit monitoring for all three bureaus, monthly FICO® credit scores and reports for all three bureaus, up to $1 million in identity theft insurance, and a dedicated agent to help you if you think you’re a victim of fraud or identity theft. You can enroll on Experian’s website.

How to lock your credit report at TransUnion

TransUnion’s credit lock program is called TrueIdentity, and it’s also free. Like with Equifax, you can lock and unlock your credit quickly on a smartphone or computer. The program also gives you access to your TransUnion® credit report, free monitoring alerts and up to $25,000 in identity theft insurance. TransUnion also has a premium product, called Credit Lock Plus, that allows you to lock your credit reports with both TransUnion and Equifax — but it costs $19.95 a month. You can sign up for the free TrueIdentity program on TransUnion’s website.

Pros and cons of locking your credit

Pros of locking your credit

• A credit lock can reduce your chances of becoming an identity theft victim, since lenders can’t check your credit reports while they’re locked.
• You can lock and unlock your reports yourself at any time, making it faster than a freeze if you need to authorize a legitimate credit check.
• TransUnion and Equifax allow you to lock and unlock your credit for free.

Cons of locking your credit

• If you want the highest level of credit-report protection available with a credit lock, you’d need to enroll in a credit lock program at all three major consumer credit bureaus.
• It’s not cheap to lock your credit at Experian.

Bottom line

Locking your credit is a simple and effective way to help keep others from fraudulently opening new credit cards or taking out loans in your name. It’s also faster to put in place and lift than a credit freeze and is free at two of the major credit bureaus. But if you want the peace of mind of having it locked at all three, you’ll have to pay for it.

Need to reach out directly to the credit bureaus? We’ve put together a guide on how to contact each major credit bureau.

About the author: Emily Starbuck Gerson is a full-time freelance writer in San Antonio who’s been covering personal finance since 2007. She has written for numerous national publications and enjoys helping people make better decisions … Read more.

How do I freeze my credit with Equifax?

How do you put a lock on your credit report?

How do I unlock my Equifax credit report?

What is the difference between lock and freeze on Equifax?