A proposed class-action lawsuit alleges that in April 2024, a hacker group called USDoD stole the personal information of 2.9 billion individuals — including social security numbers, addresses, dates of birth and phone numbers, as reported by Bloomberg Law.
News like this can feel understandably scary, since identity theft can wreck your credit and cost you countless hours in straightening out the situation. But if you’re worried, you can do more than just hope for the best. Here are some simple steps you can take to help safeguard your identity.
Identity protection services that can help you
Investing in a solid identity theft protection service can help you identify instances of potential fraud early and nip the problem in the bud before it gets out of hand.
For instance, Aura is a standout service that’s targeted toward keeping entire families safe. The service helps protect against financial fraud, identity theft, spam calls, online theft, phishing and scam websites, viruses and malware. While you can purchase a plan for an individual, Aura’s standout offers are its plans for couples and families ($18/month billed annually and $29/month billed annually, respectively).
Other family-oriented features include cyberbullying alerts for online gaming, child identity protection alerts and family alert sharing. All annual plans from Aura come with a 14-day free trial.
IdentityForce is another service that can help because all plans come with dark web scanning, which comes in handy in the aftermath of a data breach since hackers often aim to sell your personal information on the dark web.
IdentityForce also offers up to $1 million in identity theft insurance coverage. This type of coverage can reimburse you for any money you spend on to clear up your stolen identity. In 2023, identity fraud cost Americans a total of $23 billion, according to a report from Javelin Strategy & Research, an independent research firm focused on financial services.
How to freeze your credit
If this news leaves you unnerved, one quick and simple thing you can do today is to freeze your credit. When you freeze your credit, you’re preventing access to your credit report, which lenders need to approve new lines of credit like personal loans, mortgages and credit cards.
This means that while your credit is frozen, identity thieves won’t be able to get approved for new lines of credit under your name.
Credit freezes don’t impact your credit score and don’t impact your ability to use existing lines of credit (like a credit card).
Implementing a credit freeze is free and easy, but you’ll need to do this for each of the three credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. With Experian you can simply sign into your account and freeze your credit with just one click. You may need to contact Equifax and TransUnion to freeze your credit:
- Equifax: Go to the Equifax consumer services center or call 888-378-4329.
- TransUnion: Go to the TransUnion’s website or call 800-916-8800.
- Experian: Contact Experian’s security freeze center or call 888-397-3742.
What to do if your identity has already been stolen
If you’re already the victim of identity theft, here are a few steps you can take to recover your identity, according to the Justice Department’s Offices for Victims of Crime:
- Make sure you place a fraud alert on your credit report. Placing a fraud alert will prevent anyone from opening up more lines of credit using your information. You only need to contact one of the three credit bureaus to do this and they will contact the other two bureaus.
- Request a free copy of your credit report from the three bureaus. After a fraud alert is in place, you’re entitled to a free copy of your credit report from each bureau. It’s important to review your report so you can spot any specific instances where your information was used to open a line of credit in your name.
- Keep track of all conversations and notices you may have with financial institutions. If you need to turn to legal solutions later, it’s important to have evidence of all your correspondences.
- File a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Filing a report with the FTC allows your information to be entered into the Identity Theft Data Clearinghouse, which is a database that helps law enforcement investigate instances of identity theft.
- Contact your local police department to file a police report. Filing a police report can help protect you from any penalties you may incur from crimes that were committed by an identity thief under your name. Identity thieves may not always commit crimes under the victim’s name but it doesn’t hurt to err on the side of caution.
