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If you live in Quebec, congratulations, you are able to put a credit freeze on your credit. Technically, yes, credit freezes are available in Canada. Currently, legislation is required to enforce consumer protection through credit freezing. Both bureaus are able to put credit freezes on your account, but are not required to do so.
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In Canada, there are two consumer credit reporting bureaus, Equifax and TransUnion. It is a way to protect you from fraud and protect your credit score. But, if you had a credit freeze in place, the credit check would be flagged and likely fail.Ī credit freeze prevents the credit bureau from sharing your credit information.
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If someone were to steal your identity and approach a lender to try to open a credit card in your name, the lender would conduct a credit check to ensure “you” (in this case, the fraudster posing as you) had a good credit score and were worthy to lend to. What is a credit freeze?Ī credit freeze, also known as a credit lock or security freeze, is a freeze on access to your credit report. So what can we do in Canada to protect our identity? A credit freeze is one option, but it’s not available to everyone. Keeping your identity and credit safe is critically important to your financial health. If a fraudster manages to steal your identity and open up a bank account or credit card or take out loans in your name, you could be in for all sorts of headaches and your credit score could take a major dive. Between 20, fraud and cybercrime in Canada rose by a whopping 218 percent. In fact, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre estimates one in five Canadians fall victim to identity theft.
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