There are several effective steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft. Below are some tips that everyone should consider:
·
Order your credit report from the three national credit reporting agencies.
You are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from each of the three big
agencies once every 12 months. Review it closely for unauthorized accounts or
any mistakes.
Credit reports can be obtained
online
or by phone from:
Equifax at
1-800-525-6285
TransUnion at
1-800-680-7289
Experian at
1-888-397-3742
·
Make a point to periodically change your passwords and usernames for email,
financial and social media accounts. If your information was exposed in the
Equifax breach, immediately change your logins and passwords. Account
credentials can be further strengthened by enabling 2-step verification on all
accounts.
·
Ensure that you regularly monitor activity on your credit and financial accounts.
Any suspicious or fraudulent transactions should be reported immediately.
·
If your data was involved in a breach and you have been offered identity protection
and/or credit monitoring as a result of the breach, you should seriously consider
taking advantage of it.
·
A credit freeze is one of the best ways to prevent identity theft because it restricts
access to your credit report, making it difficult for identity thieves to open new
accounts in your name. While it does not protect existing accounts, it usually stops
new accounts from being opened because your credit will be inaccessible, and most
comp
anies will not extend credit without access to a credit report. Since a credit
freeze essentially locks down your credit, no one, including you, can open a new
credit account in your name while it is in place.
·
A fraud alert is available to identity theft victims and warns anyone checking your
credit report that you may have been a victim of identity theft. As a result, anyone
applying for credit in your name will be highly scrutinized, and you will likely be
contacted before credit is extended.
It is important that you consider what the state and federal governments are saying about this breach due to its massive scale and Equifax’s handling of the incident. The NYS Attorney General’s Office has issued an announcement that it is investigating Equifax’s handling of the breach, and has issued
guidance and consumer alert
. Among other things, this alert informs us how to find out whether your information was involved in the breach without accepting Equifax’s service or the accompanying conditions.
Additionally, the FTC has issued
guidance
with some solid advice about how everyone can protect themselves and their information in light of this breach.
Please look into this event and take reasonable steps to protect yourself as this breach is absolutely massive and has all of the ingredients of an event that will lead to stolen identities, tax fraud and other harm to those whose information was compromised.
Please contact
Kurt Bratten
if you have any questions or concerns relating to this incident.