A credit freeze stops anyone — including you, until you unfreeze it — from opening new credit in your name. It's free, it's reversible, and it's one of the most effective things you can do tonight.
Most scam advice focuses on not falling for the trick. A credit freeze protects you even if your information already leaked in a breach you don't know about yet.
You'll need to freeze your credit separately with each of the major credit bureaus in your country — it's not one single action, and missing one leaves a gap.
It won't stop existing accounts from being misused, and it won't affect your credit score. It only blocks new accounts from being opened without your explicit unlock.
The full guide has the exact steps for your specific country's credit bureaus.
Get the guide →