In the world of credit, there are several traps that can keep you from achieving a high score. Here are four credit traps to avoid or minimize in order to achieve and maintain a high credit score. Knowing what traps to avoid will prevent mistakes that will lower your credit score.

One way to prevent credit card fraud is to place a free credit freeze on your credit report. With a freeze, new credit applications will automatically be declined because lenders will not be able to pull your report.

Five factors go into the scoring of your credit score. Those factors are the type of credit, new credit applications, payment history, total balances, and length of credit history.