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2019 may have been the worst year for data breaches. How to freeze your credit (and still use your cards!)

It's time to freeze your credit, and yes, you can still use all your credit cards!

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Back in 2016, Yahoo admitted someone hacked all of its 3 billion accounts. In 2017, Equifax revealed a data breach affecting 147 million people. Even with those massive problems, experts say this year is on track to be one of the worst for data breaches.

RELATED:Freeze Your Credit NOW! Feds: Capital One Hack Includes 30 Other Companies.

In the first 6 months of the year, breaches were up 54% and the number of records exposed went up to 52%. A research and security firm says more than 3 billion records were exposed in just 8 of those data breaches.

That's why it's so important to freeze your credit. It keeps the bad guys from opening credit lines in your name and you can still use your credit cards as much as you want. 

RELATED: Getting more spam calls? Here's how to protect yourself from becoming a victim

When you want a new loan or credit card you unfreeze it with a pin -- and freeze it once again. You can do it by clicking each one of the below links or mailing them. 

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Equifax Security Freeze

Equifax

P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348//1-800-685-1111

Experian Security Freeze

Experian

P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013//1-888-397-3742

TU Protected Consumer Freeze

TransUnion

P.O. Box 380 Woodlyn, PA 19094//1-800-916-8800

RELATED: Don't Get Hacked! And What To Do If You Do

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