How does a state security freeze differ from a federal fraud alert?
A security freeze is a mechanism to prevent new account identity theft. Only a security freeze allows the consumer to limit access to his or her consumer reporting file. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act creates two types of fraud alerts, but the only type available to consumers who have not yet been victims of identity theft, called the initial fraud alert, expires after 90 days unless renewed. The very short time period makes this a poor tool for ID theft prevention. The extended fraud alert is restricted to ID theft victims. Neither the initial nor the extended fraud alert stops the release of the credit report or the credit score. Instead, under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, when a fraud alert is attached to a credit file, potential creditors must take certain steps to verify a credit applicant’s identity before extending credit. The fraud alert, however, does not prevent the potential creditor from getting the credit report or the credit score. A security freeze grant
