Yet, despite these massive losses, few people do enough to proactively protect their finances and online accounts from fraudsters, thieves, and con artists.Ī credit freeze (also known as a security freeze) and a credit lock are two ways to help prevent criminals from using your stolen information for financial gain.īoth credit locks and freezes make it harder for scammers to open new accounts or take out loans in your name. What’s The Difference Between a Credit Lock and Freeze?ĭepending on which source you read, Americans were defrauded out of anywhere from $5.9 to $52 billion, last year alone.