Wait? You still didn't freeze your credit report after the ginormous Equifax data breach back in September?
Somehow it just slipped your mind that crooks could have access to your Social Security number? Really? The Equifax data breach is one that 148 million consumers cannot afford to forget.
"Your Social Security number will never come back. It will never be restored to confidential status, if it was leaked," said Chi Chi Wu, staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center in Boston.
One line of defense is a security freeze. Under a new federal rule, a freeze will be free for the all major credit reporting agencies — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. More on that later.