Experian and TransUnion now allow residents of all 50 states to freeze their credit online. With Experian, it takes about 90 seconds. With TransUnion, 3 minutes. Want to find out how to do it? Follow the bolded links on Clark's guide!

So what's going on with Equifax? Currently, only residents of 4 states -- Georgia, Iowa, New Jersey and Wyoming -- can freeze their credit online. Those are the 4 states that are required by law to allow their residents the online option. But by Nov. 1, Equifax expects to make the online option available to residents of all other states too.

Please note that while a credit freeze can help shut down economic ID theft, it will not help eliminate criminal identity theft. That's where crooks use a fake ID with your information.

In order to tackle criminal identity theft, local law enforcement will have to move to electronic fingerprinting and/or iris reading to make sure a suspect is who he or she claims to be.

Little by little, we are getting the tools we need to stop ID theft. It's only been more than a decade coming! Clark recalls that it all started with a couple named the Foleys in San Diego who founded the ID Theft Resource Center after it happened to them.