Extended Fraud Alert: 7 Years of Protection

Two things stop new fraud in your name: a fraud alert and a credit freeze. They are constantly confused, they do different jobs, and the stronger one is free and needs no police report.

Here is how to choose, and how to get the 7 year version if that is what you want.

The three options

	Initial fraud alert	Extended fraud alert	Credit freeze
How long	1 year	7 years	Until you lift it
Cost	Free	Free	Free
Report required	None	Identity theft report, and in practice a police report	None
How many bureaus to contact	One, it tells the others	One, it tells the others	All three, separately
What it does	Lenders should verify your identity	Lenders should verify your identity	Blocks access to your report
Affects your score	No	No	No
Friction when you apply for credit	Low	Low	You must lift it first

What an alert actually does

A fraud alert is a flag on your file. It tells a lender pulling your report that it should take reasonable steps to verify your identity before extending credit in your name.

The important word is should. An alert asks a lender to be careful. It does not stop the lender from opening the account.

That is the honest limitation. A determined thief with your details can still get through a lender that treats verification as a formality.

What a freeze actually does

A freeze restricts access to your credit report altogether. Most lenders will not extend credit without pulling a report, so if they cannot pull one, the account generally does not get opened.

That is a harder stop than a request to be careful.

Freezes are free by federal law, you can lift one temporarily when you are applying for something, and lifting is usually quick online. Full instructions in how to freeze your credit.

So which should you use

If you have been a victim of identity theft: freeze all three, and place an alert.

The freeze does the actual blocking. The alert flags the file for anyone who does get access. They are not alternatives, they stack.

If you are worried but nothing has happened: an initial alert is a reasonable, low friction step. It is free, one phone call, lasts a year, and costs you nothing in convenience.

If you apply for credit frequently and cannot tolerate the friction: alerts only. You are trading protection for convenience and you should know that is the trade.

Here is the thing most guides bury: for pure protection, the freeze beats the extended alert, and the freeze needs no police report. If the only reason you are considering a police report is to get seven years of alert, consider whether a freeze gets you more protection for less effort.

The police report is still worth having for other reasons, which how to file a police report for identity theft covers.

How to place an initial alert

One contact, and the bureau you contact must notify the other two.

1. Contact any one of Equifax, Experian or TransUnion, online or by phone
2. Confirm your identity
3. Request an initial fraud alert
4. Get written confirmation
5. Verify a few days later that all three show the alert

Lasts 1 year. Renewable.

How to place an extended alert

Same one-contact rule, more paperwork.

1. Get your identity theft report first. File at IdentityTheft.gov. See how to fill out the FTC affidavit
2. Get a police report. In practice this is what the bureaus expect for the extended alert
3. Contact any one bureau and request an extended fraud alert, submitting the documentation
4. Get written confirmation
5. Verify across all three

Lasts 7 years.

An extended alert also entitles you to have your name removed from prescreened credit offer lists for five years, which reduces the volume of preapproved offers a thief can intercept from your mail.

What none of these do

Being clear about the boundary:

They do not remove fraud that already happened. Alerts and freezes are forward looking. Accounts a thief already opened stay on your report until you block them under FCRA 605B, which is a separate process with a 4 business day deadline.

They do not affect your score. They control access, not content.

A freeze does not stop existing creditors. Companies you already do business with, and collectors on existing debts, can still access your file.

A freeze does not stop all fraud. It stops new credit accounts. It does not stop misuse of an existing card, tax fraud, or medical identity theft.

The order to do this in

If you have just discovered fraud, this is the sequence that loses the least time.

Today:

1. Pull all three credit reports
2. File at IdentityTheft.gov
3. Place a fraud alert, one call
4. Freeze all three bureaus

Tomorrow:

5. Send 605B block packages to all three, certified with return receipt

In parallel:

6. Police report, if you want the extended alert or a creditor demands one

Note what is not on that list: waiting. The freeze and alert take under an hour combined and they stop the bleeding while the block works through.

The short version

• Initial alert: 1 year, free, no report needed, one phone call
• Extended alert: 7 years, free, needs a report and in practice a police report
• Freeze is stronger than either, free, and needs no police report at all
• Contact one bureau for an alert. Contact all three for a freeze
• Neither affects your credit score
• Neither removes existing fraudulent accounts. That is a 605B block
• For a real theft: freeze all three and place an alert, then send your block packages

Credit Booster AI monitors all three of your reports and alerts you when something new appears, which is how most people find out a freeze was worth placing.