How Do Fraud Alerts Work?

A fraud alert flags your credit report and recommends that lenders verify your identity before issuing new lines of credit. In most cases, this means you’ll receive a phone call confirming any new accounts or loans.

Here’s what happens if you have a fraud alert in place:

If an inquiry is made into your credit history: You’ll get a call from a lender confirming your identity. Only after you agree will the lender process an application for a new credit account.

If someone tries to take out loans or open new accounts: You should get a call to authorize new accounts that you didn’t request. You can deny the request and protect yourself from the attempted identity theft.

Fraud alerts are free and have no impact on your credit report or credit scores. You can still request your free annual credit report if you have a fraud alert set up.

‍