Fraud alert
A free flag on your credit file that tells lenders to verify your identity before opening credit. An initial alert lasts a year and you place it with one bureau.
Also called: credit fraud alert, initial fraud alert, extended fraud alert
A free flag on your credit file that tells lenders to verify your identity before opening credit. An initial alert lasts a year and you place it with one bureau.
What it means
A fraud alert is a free notice on your credit file that tells lenders to verify your identity before they grant new credit. It does not block lenders from seeing your report. That is the main difference from a credit freeze.
There are three kinds. An initial fraud alert lasts one year and can be renewed. Anyone who is, or suspects they may be, a victim of identity theft can ask for one. An extended fraud alert lasts seven years and requires an identity theft report from IdentityTheft.gov or the police. An active duty alert is for service members. It lasts one year and can be renewed for the length of a deployment.
You contact just one credit bureau, and it must tell the other two. An extended alert also removes you from unsolicited credit and insurance offer lists for five years, unless you opt out of that removal.
What it means for you
A fraud alert is a low-effort step. It fits if your information was exposed and you are not ready to freeze your credit, or if someone has already used your identity. It is free, you place it once, and one bureau passes it to the other two. Because lenders must verify who you are, a credit application may take a little longer. If your Social Security number was in a breach and you want the strongest protection, a freeze blocks new accounts outright. Keep a note of when your alert expires so you can renew it.
Example
Say a hypothetical airline tells you a database with your name, address and birth date was exposed. You call one credit bureau and place a free initial fraud alert, and it passes the alert to the other two. Weeks later someone applies for a store card in your name. The lender sees the alert and has to verify the applicant's identity, which a thief usually cannot do, so the application stalls. After a year, you can renew the alert if you still want it.
FAQ
An initial fraud alert lasts one year and can be renewed. An extended alert lasts seven years and needs an identity theft report. An active duty alert lasts one year and can be renewed for the length of a deployment.
They do different things. A fraud alert asks lenders to verify your identity but does not block them from viewing your report. A freeze blocks access to your report for new credit until you lift it. The FTC says your situation determines which one fits.
Related terms
- FTC: Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts
- 15 U.S.C. 1681c-1: fraud alerts and security freezes (Cornell LII)
- FTC: Identity Theft, A Recovery Plan
Updated Oct 18, 2026. Plain-English definitions for general information — not legal or tax advice.