In today’s world of data breaches and threats to your identity, everyone has questions.
Am I safe? Everyone is at risk. But what that means is different for everybody. Are you wealthy, or do you live a high profile life? Are you in a vulnerable group? Are you an attractive target?
Is there anything I can do? You are the only one who can. Being careful and self-aware puts you in a good position. Treat every transaction as if you were darting across a street in heavy traffic.
How do I protect myself? The single most effective thing you can do…
Freeze your credit.
Freezing your credit is free. Each of the three credit bureaus will require you to set up an account (you do not need to pay to do this), and from there, you can freeze and unfreeze your credit reports as you want. If you do not want to do it online, you can do this by phone, or even by mail. I do not know which is easier.
What “freezing your credit” means that no one can access your credit reports, and that “should” prevent anyone from opening accounts in your name. While nothing is foolproof, this is a great means of self-defense in the identity game.
These are the three credit bureaus:
Experian – https://www.experian.com – 888 397 3742
Transunion – https://www.transunion.com – 833-806-1627
Equifax – https://www.equifax.com – 888-378-4329
The links to freeze your credit reports are below, but for safety, I recommend that you type the web addresses above into your browser. Do not use search tools to do this, as you may not get to the real websites. You can verify these addresses on their respective sites.
Experian – https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
Transunion – https://service.transunion.com/dss/login.page?dest=freezeStatus
Equifax – https://my.equifax.com/consumer-registration/UCSC/#/personal-info
If you want to read more, I found this great summary on the Equifax page. It also includes more things you can do to freeze access to your information.
https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/credit-education/preventing-fraud/security-freeze
Remember to write down all passwords, user names and security answers that you create for each service. You will need these when unfreezing your credit. Do not use the same passwords, or even passwords that you have used before. Be sure to store them safely, and more importantly where you can find them as you need them.
As always, please call me if you need assistance, or to ask any question.