7 Important Tips for Protecting Your Identity
National Public Data, a firm that provides background checks for employers, investigators and other businesses, recently confirmed that a massive data breach exposed 2.9 billion of its records, including consumers’ Social Security numbers, full names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers and more. A hacker group known as USDoD allegedly stole the data and attempted to sell it for $3.5 million before posting the information for free on an online hacker forum.
What’s especially troubling about this data breach is that much of the information held by National Public Data was obtained by scouring non-public sources without consumer consent. This means most individuals didn’t authorize them to house — and didn’t even realize they had housed — their most personal data.
So, what can you do to protect your identity and financial accounts? The following tips can help.
#1 – Determine whether your information was leaked.
The first step is to determine whether your information was included in the data breach. Penster.com created an online database that allows you to ascertain whether your information was included in the breach.
#2 – Place a freeze on your credit files.
If you’re concerned that your personal information has been compromised, consider placing a freeze on your credit files with each of the major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Doing so can help prevent fraudsters from signing up for credit cards, opening financial accounts and/or taking loans in your name. If you need a credit check in the future, you can request that the freeze be temporarily removed until the check is complete.
Each of these credit bureaus allows consumers to access one free credit report each year. Be sure to take advantage of this annual opportunity to check your reports and make sure there aren’t any unexpected errors.
#3 – Regularly review all your financial accounts.
One of the best ways to stop fraudulent activity is to promptly identify it and take action. Be sure to log into all your financial accounts at least once a week to check for any unauthorized transactions. Also, consider setting up online banking alerts to notify you of any suspicious activity.
#4 – Promptly report any fraudulent transactions.
When it comes to reporting unauthorized financial transactions, time is of the essence. That’s why it’s important to notify your financial institutions as soon as possible after noticing suspicious activity.
#5 – Use strong passwords and update them regularly.
To help ensure the security of your online accounts, be sure to select strong passwords that are difficult to guess, and change them often. Your passwords should contain a combination of capital and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters. Be sure to choose different passwords for different accounts so that if one account is compromised, the others remain protected.
#6 – Opt in to multifactor authentication.
Multifactor authentication offers an extra layer of password security by requiring that you provide another piece of data to gain access to your account, in addition to your username and password. For example, your bank may ask a series of security questions that only you know the answers to or send a PIN via text to your phone number on file. Whenever possible, enroll in multifactor authentication. That way, even if a fraudster learns your password, he/she won’t be able to access your account.
#7 – Know what to do if you suspect your identity has been stolen.
If you notice suspicious activity or believe someone has accessed your personal data, it’s important to immediately take the following actions:
- Notify your bank, lenders and any other financial institutions of the fraud.
- Update all online passwords.
- Dispute fraudulent transactions with the applicable financial institutions.
- Report the fraud.
- Notify local law enforcement and your state’s attorney general. You may need to file a police report.
- Contact each of the major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) and request that a fraud alert be placed on your file. To do so, you may need to provide proof that you’ve reported the incident to law enforcement.
- File a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
- File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or the FBI Internet Crime Compliant Center, if necessary.
- File a complaint with the United States Postal Inspection Service if any fraud-related communication was sent via U.S. mail.
If you’re a wealth management client who’s been a victim of identity theft or would like to take steps to prevent future fraud, contact your wealth manager for assistance.
