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You can also lock your credit down with the main agencies. I do this during normal times and only unlock when I know I need to secure a new line (such as a car loan or moving)

We don’t chnage credit cards hardly ever. But would need to do it for that too

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You better believe I have my credit reports locked now and for anybody reading this I recommend you go do this now if you haven't already (it is free and easy).

I've had to unlock them a few times and I can unlock all three in under 5 minutes.

I also have a fraud alert on my reports now which was only slightly inconvenient when getting utilities because I had to go in person to verify myself (utility companies don't report to credit agencies afaik but they do some sort of identity check through them).

I’ll also add that it’s more convenient than I expected - the three credit bureaus all let you unlock your file temporarily up until a specified date, after which it will re-lock without you having to log back in.

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