How to Put a Fraud Alert on Your Social Security Number

To put a fraud alert on your Social Security number, contact any one of the three major credit bureaus by phone or online and ask for a fraud alert on your credit file. Federal law requires that bureau to notify the other two within one business day, so a single request covers all three.¹ It’s free, it takes a few minutes, and it tells lenders to verify your identity before opening any new account tied to your SSN.

Reach any one of these three:

Pick the Right Type of Alert First

Federal law creates three kinds, and the one you can place depends on your situation.¹

An initial fraud alert lasts one year. Anyone can place one at any time, and you don’t need proof that identity theft happened. If your SSN turned up in a data breach or you simply suspect it’s been exposed, this is the alert to ask for.

An extended fraud alert lasts seven years and is reserved for confirmed identity theft victims. To qualify, file an identity theft report at IdentityTheft.gov first; the site walks you through describing the theft and generates an official affidavit you sign electronically.⁵ Knowingly filing a false report carries federal criminal penalties, so this route is meant for actual victims. Submit the completed report to any one bureau with your alert request. The extended alert also removes your name from prescreened credit offers for five years.

An active duty alert lasts one year and is available to active duty military members. It provides the same protections as an initial alert during deployment.

What You’ll Need to Provide

For an initial alert, have your name, Social Security number, date of birth, and a phone number where lenders can reach you. That phone number matters: for initial and active duty alerts, “reasonable procedures to confirm the applicant’s identity” usually means the lender calling you at the number on the alert before extending credit.¹ The bureau sends confirmation by email or mail; hold on to it in case you later want to renew or remove the alert.

What a Fraud Alert Won’t Do

A fraud alert asks lenders to verify identity before opening new credit. It does not block access to your credit report. Lenders can still pull the file; they’re simply supposed to take an extra step before approving a new account.⁶ Enforcement depends on lenders following through, and not all of them do.

An alert also has nothing to do with tax refund fraud, someone getting a job under your SSN, or someone contacting the Social Security Administration to redirect your benefits. Each of those runs through a different system, and each has its own separate lock.

Add a Credit Freeze for Harder Protection

A credit freeze goes further than an alert. It locks your credit file so nobody can open new accounts until you lift it, including you.⁷ Freezes are also free under federal law.⁸

Two practical differences from an alert. First, a freeze doesn’t rely on lenders doing anything correctly; the file is closed. Second, you have to contact each bureau separately to place a freeze, unlike the one-call rule for alerts.⁷ Online or phone requests must be processed within one business day.⁸

Each bureau will give you a PIN or password after the freeze is placed. That code is the only way to lift or remove the freeze later, so store it somewhere secure. When you apply for credit, a rental, or a job that checks your report, ask which bureau the creditor uses and temporarily lift the freeze only there. Most bureaus let you set a date range so the freeze snaps back automatically.⁶

If your SSN has already been misused, the strongest posture is layering both: a freeze to shut down new account openings immediately, and an extended fraud alert for the seven-year runway.

Get an IRS Identity Protection PIN for Tax Fraud

Nothing on your credit file stops someone from filing a fake federal tax return under your SSN and taking your refund. The IRS handles that separately through an Identity Protection PIN, a six-digit code you include on your return each year. Without the correct PIN, the IRS rejects the return.⁹

Anyone with a Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number can enroll. The fastest way is through your IRS online account at irs.gov; the IP PIN appears in the profile section starting each mid-January. If you can’t verify online, you have two other options:

File Form 15227 if your adjusted gross income on your last return was under $84,000 (individual) or $168,000 (married filing jointly). The IRS verifies your identity by phone and mails your PIN within four to six weeks.
Visit an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center in person with a government-issued photo ID and one additional form of identification. Your PIN arrives by mail within about three weeks.

The IP PIN changes every year. Online enrollees retrieve the new code from their IRS account each January; anyone who enrolled by form or in person gets a new one by mail. Parents can request IP PINs for dependents too, which matters because children’s SSNs are a favorite target precisely because nobody checks their tax records.⁹

Block Electronic Access at the Social Security Administration

If you believe your SSN is compromised, you can ask the Social Security Administration itself to block all electronic and automated telephone access to your record. Once the block is on, nobody, including you, can view or change your personal information online or through the automated phone system. Call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY: 1-800-325-0778) to request it.¹⁰

After the block, any change to your record requires a visit to an SSA office or a phone call with identity verification. That’s inconvenient, but if someone has already used your SSN to open a fraudulent my Social Security account or redirect benefits, closing that door is worth the trouble.

Suspected misuse of your SSN for employment or government benefits also goes to SSA’s Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271 or oig.ssa.gov, and to IdentityTheft.gov for a recovery plan.¹¹

Lock Your SSN in E-Verify

Employment identity theft, where someone uses your SSN to get hired, runs through the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify system. E-Verify has a Self Lock feature that flags a mismatch if an employer runs your locked SSN, which blocks the unauthorized hire.¹²

Create a myE-Verify account, set up three security challenge questions, and activate the lock. It stays on until you turn it off. When you legitimately start a new job with an E-Verify employer, log in and unlock your number before the employer submits the check. This is the only federal tool built specifically to stop someone from getting a job under your identity.

Keep Checking Your Credit Reports

Alerts, freezes, and PINs are preventive. Existing accounts can still be compromised, and no lock is perfect. All three major bureaus now offer free weekly credit reports through AnnualCreditReport.com on a permanent basis, and Equifax provides an additional six free reports per year through 2026 via the same site.¹³ Pull them regularly and look for unfamiliar accounts, wrong personal information, or hard inquiries you didn’t authorize. If you find errors tied to identity theft, dispute them with the bureau showing the incorrect information and attach your report from IdentityTheft.gov.

No single tool covers every angle. A fraud alert flags new credit applications. A freeze blocks them outright. An IP PIN handles tax returns. An SSA block handles your Social Security record. An E-Verify Self Lock handles employment. The stronger your combination, the less useful your SSN becomes to anyone who has it.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c-1 – Identity Theft Prevention; Fraud Alerts and Active Duty Alerts
2
Equifax. Place a Fraud Alert or Active Duty Alert
3
Experian. Place a Fraud Alert
4
TransUnion. Fraud Alerts – Place a Fraud Alert
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Federal Trade Commission. Is a Credit Freeze or Fraud Alert Right for You?
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Federal Trade Commission. Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is a Credit Freeze or Security Freeze on My Credit Report?
8
Federal Trade Commission. Starting Today, New Federal Law Allows Consumers to Place Free Credit Freezes and Yearlong Fraud Alerts
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Internal Revenue Service. Get an Identity Protection PIN
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Social Security Administration. How You Can Help Us Protect Your Social Security Number and Keep Your Information Safe
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Social Security Administration. Fraud Prevention and Reporting
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E-Verify. Self Lock
13
Federal Trade Commission. Free Credit Reports