In light of the Equifax breech, and all of the various data leaks, as someone who has helped a family member go through an identity theft case as a victim, I thought I'd post this quick blurb on how to protect yourself.
These steps are mandatory, in my opinion, to stay reasonable secure as you can, under the circumstances, in today's world of hacked data and leaked secrets.
1. Freeze your credit (some suggest doing step 2 & 4 before this step, read notes below). If you live in 9 states, freezing it is free:
http://blog.credit.com/2015/12/9-states-that-let-you-freeze-your-credit-for-free-132672/ I had to pay to have my credit file frozen, but it is well worth it. I did it all online in minutes, paid with my credit card, and have had my credit frozen for several years. I did unfreeze my credit from time to time to apply for new credit cards, etc., and it was super simple to do so.
-if you're a victim of ID theft, file a police report, then use police report to get free freezing of your credit.
-pro tip - fraud alerts do nothing... my relative had fraud alerts on their file, and they still kept becoming victims of credit fraud.
-pro tip 2 - it is FAR cheaper to freeze your credit, and unfreeze it as needed, than to pay for ANY credit monitoring service. Do the math. I wish I had done this years earlier as it would have saved me a lot of money.
-pro tip 3 - use your credit card benefits, like Discover, Citibank, Chase, etc to monitor your credit score for free. If you see a dip in credit score, check your credit files ASAP.
1.1 - don't forget to freeze your credit with the "4th" credit bureau as well -
https://www.innovis.com/securityFreeze/index (takes 1 minute and is free)
1.2 - some have suggested, you may want to step 2 & 4 before freezing your credit (creating your IRS account online, and setting up your social security account online). Also some links for freezing your credit (I recommend googling how to do this in case they change the links, but these are the current links for now)
https://www.freeze.equifax.com/Freeze/jsp/SFF_PersonalIDInfo.jsp https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze/place-credit-freeze https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html2. sign up at IRS to reduce income tax fraud:
http://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/03/sign-up-at-irs-gov-before-crooks-do-it-for-you/ (link:
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript - click on 'get transcripts online' and then you will see the log in / create accounts creen).
3. you also should place a fraud alert with Chex Systems. This is the consumer debit card & check clearing organization. It will reduce the likelihood of check fraud with your information as well. No one can open a bank account with your info fraudulently, for example. (link:
https://www.chexsystems.com/web/chexsystems/consumerdebit/page/securityfreeze/information/ )
4. open an account online with Social Security so no one else can pretend to be you and do it before you do.
https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/ -However, if you have frozen your credit, like I did, then you must go to the local Social Security office, present valid ID, to get a special exception to open your SS account online. So if you have frozen your credit, you are protected from scammers trying to open a SS account online with your data.
-still recommend going to local SS office to get the exception so you can monitor your SS online.
5. Use 2 factor authentication as much as possible (I use Google Authenticator app). With passwords being hacked left and right, you must turn on 2 factor authentication where you can.
6. Protect data on your PC by using programs like Veracrypt to securely store your private data. I have my credit freeze security codes stored in a secure Veracrypt container, which is then backed up to multiple places.
7. Set up credit card alerts. Most credit cards now have instant text / email alerts for transactions over a certain amount (I make mine $0 or $1), as well as alerts for "card not present" or "international transactions" types of activity. Make sure you set up alerts for credit card transactions!! I get instant alerts on any credit card charges via text AND email, so I can review it and make sure it's legit.
8. DO NOT use debit cards, they expose your actual bank balance to fraud. Use credit cards as a strong layer of protection between you and your cash. I never use my debit cards except at the bank and my bank's ATM only. I never use my debit cards at a merchant or 3rd party ATM. It's a lot harder to get cash back once it's stolen, than to prevent it from being lost in the first place!!
9. DO NOT use personal checks, if you can help it. Checks contain your bank account number, your address, and your bank routing number. That's a TON of data for crooks to use. I use bank bill-pay to write electronic checks that the bank prints / mails, and they use intermediary account #'s and routing #'s, to pay. That's a lot more secure than writing personal checks.
10. If you ever do any side-hustle, like 1099 type of work, apply for a free IRS EIN (electronic ID number). You can give this EIN to potential customers for the W9 form they may ask you to complete. This will help keep your social security number private.
If anyone else has other tips, please add them here. Hope this helps. This is the bare minimum of what I do to stay more secure from ID theft and credit fraud.
More good reads:
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/09/breach-at-equifax-may-impact-143m-americans/Freeze 101
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/06/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-embrace-the-security-freeze/Bottom line - don't be apathetic and stare at this thread doing NOTHING. Act NOW. Pretend a pickpocket is actively trying to steal your wallet and all of your credit cards and cash, you have to make this a high priority and just get it done now! Being a victim is no fun, sucks a lot of time to combat, and get your credit back to normal. Much easier to do this now than later.