How Credit Freeze Can Help To Protect Wealth Amid Rising Threat Of Identity Theft

Data breaches are becoming increasingly common these days. On May 28, a massive number of account credentials like email logins and bank account passwords were exposed online, affecting about 184 million users. The breach affected platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Apple and Microsoft. This data can be used for identity theft, ransomware attacks and phishing.

With the danger of identity theft ever present, it is essential to know some ways to keep your sensitive data secure. One of the ways to avoid any financial fraud is a credit freeze.

It is a tool that restricts access to your credit report. This measure prevents any lender, fraudster or even a credit card issuer from accessing your credit report. A credit freeze will stop new accounts from being created with your credentials. It can be removed either temporarily or permanently, without affecting your credit score.

Contact the credit bureaus: Visit the official websites of agencies like CIBIL, Equifax, CRIF High Mark and Experian. 

Enter Your Identification: Provide documentation such as PAN or Aadhaar to start the process.

Create A Password: You might have to create a password. This will aid you in the future when you have to lift the credit freeze.

Things To Consider 

• A credit freeze can be helpful if your personal documents are missing or you have been a victim of identity theft. 

• Initiating a credit freeze does not mean that your existing accounts cannot be used.

• You will have to remove the freeze before applying for a new loan or credit card.

• If you do not lift the credit freeze before time, there could be a delay in processing and approval of your loan.

A credit freeze can be helpful in protecting your financial health, but only if you do not need to borrow any money from a lender soon. In that case, it can lead to complications with your loan application. It must be noted that a credit freeze does allow current creditors and a few government agencies access to your credit report under certain limited circumstances. 

Apart from a credit freeze, you can use other techniques to minimise the chances of a data breach. This includes opting for password manager and multi-factor authentication and using strong, unique passwords.

By following certain basic steps, you can effectively reduce the chances of your sensitive information being compromised and leading to any potential financial loss.