Fraud alerts under FCRA 605A come in two flavors: an initial alert, and an extended alert.
Fraud alerts are only placed in your CR upon specific request of the consumer, and can be withdrawn by the consumer at any time.
An initial alert lasts for 90-days, and just advises those viewing your CR that you have raised issues of potential fraud or identity theft. It does not place any restrictions on access to your CR that are otherwise permissible.
An extended alert, which requires that you file an "identity theft report" with the CRA, remains in your credit file for 7 years, and then blocks, for 5 years, availabilty of your name for promotional offers of unsolicited credit.
Other permissible pulls of your CR are still availble without restriction. However, there are additional restrictions, when under an extended fraud alert, on the uses the one who pulls your CR may put it to, without first obtaining your prior, personal permission. Those uses include issuance of additional cards under the account, entering into modificati0ns of payment plans, and extending your credit limit.
A so-called "freeze" of your CR only applies to the blockage, upon written request under FCRA 605B, of the inclusion of any information in your CR that relates to your assertion of identity theft. Such a blockage requires sending the CRA an identity theft report. Blockage from CR inclusion may be requested with or without a request for a posting of a fraud alert in your credit file. They generally relate to identity theft issues, but have different provisions.
If a party has a permissible pull authority under FCRA 604, the FCRA does not prevent them from obtaining your CR. It only restricts its usage.
