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A fraud alert is free, takes one phone call, and comes in three versions that protect you to very different degrees. Picking the right one, and knowing when an alert is not the tool you need at all, is worth a few minutes.
What a Fraud Alert Does
An alert is a notation on your credit file telling creditors to take extra steps to verify identity before opening a new account.
Note what that is not. An alert does not block access to your file. It does not stop an account from being opened. It is an instruction to a creditor, and its force depends on the creditor following it.
Placing one is free, and you only contact one bureau. That bureau is required to notify the other two.
Initial Fraud Alert: One Year
Anyone can place an initial alert. You do not have to be a confirmed victim, and you do not have to document anything. Suspicion is enough: a breach notification, a card used fraudulently, a wallet gone.
It lasts one year, raised from 90 days by the 2018 Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, and it asks creditors to take reasonable steps to verify your identity before extending new credit.
Reasonable steps is a flexible standard, and in practice it is satisfied by procedures many creditors already run. Treat an initial alert as a useful signal rather than a barrier.
Extended Fraud Alert: Seven Years
If you are an actual victim with an identity theft report, you can place an extended alert instead. It requires a report, such as an FTC report from IdentityTheft.gov or a police report.
The protection is meaningfully different. A creditor must actually contact you, in person or at the telephone number you supply, before opening a new account or increasing a credit line. Reviewing documents is not sufficient.
It lasts seven years, it entitles you to two additional free reports from each bureau within the following twelve months, and it removes you from prescreened credit offer lists for five years.
The number you provide is the whole mechanism. Give one you will answer, and update it with the bureaus if it changes during those seven years.
Active Duty Military Alert: One Year
Service members on active duty can place a renewable one year alert. It is built for the situation where someone is deployed and cannot monitor their own file. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c-1(c), the alert itself runs for not less than 12 months, and the service member is excluded from prescreened credit and insurance offer lists for two years, which is the longer of the two periods.
Alerts Compared With Freezes
This is the distinction that decides which tool you actually need.
An alert warns. A freeze blocks. A creditor that cannot pull your file will not open the account, which is prevention rather than instruction.
Freezes are free to place, lift, and remove at all three bureaus. A bureau must lift one within one hour of an online or telephone request with proper authentication, and within three business days of a mailed request. That one hour rule is what makes a freeze practical: it no longer requires planning your credit applications days in advance.
For most people the freeze is the stronger choice, and most victims should have both. The freeze stops the ordinary case. The alert covers the situation where a file gets accessed anyway, and creates a record that the creditor was told.
Choosing
- Suspicious but not a confirmed victim: place an initial alert today, and add a freeze
- Confirmed victim with an identity theft report: place an extended alert, and add a freeze
- Active duty: place the military alert, and add a freeze
- Already frozen and wondering whether to bother with an alert: yes, because it creates the record
After You Place One
Confirm the alert actually shows up at all three bureaus rather than assuming the notification happened. Diary the expiry date if it is an initial or military alert, because those lapse quietly. And keep the confirmation.
That last point matters more than it looks. If an account is opened in your name while an extended alert was on file, the alert and its date are evidence that the creditor was instructed to contact you first and did not.
A Simple Decision Path
Most people overthink this. The sequence that fits almost everyone:
Freeze all three files, because that is the step that prevents rather than warns, and it is free.
Then place an alert on top. If you have an identity theft report, make it an extended alert. If you do not, place an initial alert, which requires no documentation and lasts a year.
If you are on active duty, use the military alert, which is built for the situation where you cannot watch your file.
The only real decision is whether you have an identity theft report, and if you are a genuine victim and do not have one, get one at IdentityTheft.gov before placing the alert. It takes twenty minutes and upgrades your protection from one year to seven.
The Mistake That Undoes an Alert
An alert is only as good as the contact number attached to it, and the number is the part that goes stale.
This matters most with an extended alert, where the creditor's obligation is specifically to reach you. A number that no longer works converts the strongest version of the protection into an obstacle: the creditor tries, fails, and either declines an application you actually made or proceeds anyway.
Initial and military alerts have the opposite failure, which is expiry. One year passes, the alert lapses, and nobody tells you. If you are relying on one, diary the renewal.
Common Questions
What is a fraud alert?
A notation on your credit file telling creditors to take extra steps to verify your identity before opening new accounts. It is free, and contacting one bureau places it at all three.
Which fraud alert do I need?
An initial alert if you are concerned but not a confirmed victim. An extended alert if you have an identity theft report. An active duty alert if you are deployed.
Is a fraud alert the same as a credit freeze?
No. An alert instructs creditors to verify. A freeze blocks access to your file for new credit, which prevents the account rather than flagging it. Most victims should have both.
How long does each type last?
Initial alerts last one year, extended alerts seven years, and active duty alerts one year and are renewable.
Does a fraud alert hurt my credit score?
No. It is not negative information and has no effect on your score.
Will it slow down my own credit applications?
An extended alert can, because the creditor has to contact you first. Tell the lender the alert is there and make sure the number on file is one you answer.
Can I place an alert if I only lost my wallet?
Yes. An initial alert requires no documentation and no proof of actual fraud, so a lost wallet, a breach notification, or a suspicious charge is reason enough.
What happens when an alert expires?
It comes off quietly and nobody tells you. If you are relying on an initial or military alert, diary the renewal date, or place a freeze so your protection does not depend on remembering.
Do alerts apply to specialty agencies too?
The nationwide bureaus are required to refer your alert to each other. Specialty agencies are separate, so ask them directly if you are concerned about tenant, employment, or deposit account screening.
Can I have an alert and a freeze at the same time?
Yes, and for most victims that is the right combination. The freeze prevents the ordinary case; the alert covers the situation where a file is accessed anyway and creates a record that the creditor was told.
Does placing an alert cost anything?
No. All three types are free, and so is a security freeze.