Your personal information, including your social security number, may have been compromised and posted on the dark web.
Earlier this month, data broker company National Public Data (NPD), confirmed they had experienced a massive security breach back in April at the hands of a hacking group known as USDoD. NPD sells personal background checks to employers and private investigators by sourcing information from various public records. However, a class action lawsuit filed in Florida argues NPD “scrapes the [personal information] of potentially billions of individuals from non-public sources” and does so without the consent of those individuals.
The hackers claim to have stolen the personal records of 2.9 billion people, including birthdates and social security numbers. Originally, they tried to sell this information for $3.5 million, but the records were leaked for free on the dark web in July.
Yesterday, NPD reported that they believe “only” 1.3 million people were affected by the leak, but experts are highly skeptical of that number, with some believing that the actual total is probably 100 times more.
Regardless, this is a massive data breach, and it’s always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to protecting your information. Safeguarding your identity is easier than you think, so instead of putting it off, take the following steps before the day is over.
Freeze Your Credit
If you only do one thing, make sure it’s this.
Free and easy to do, Experts say the most effective way to protect your identity is to freeze your credit, which bars anyone from opening a financial account in your name. You’ll still be able to use your credit cards or loans, and you’ll only need to unfreeze it when you want to do something like take out a loan or apply for an apartment—anything that requires a credit check.
How to Freeze Your Credit
You’ll need to put your credit on ice with the 3 major agencies: Transunion, Equifax, and Experian.
Below are the credit-freeze pages on each agency’s website where they’ll prompt you to create a free account and provide your information to initiate the freeze.
Agencies are required to implement the freeze within one business day of your request.
Fraud Alerts
If you want to take additional steps to protect yourself, you can also put a fraud alert on your credit report, making it harder for someone to open a new credit account in your name. A business must verify your identity before it issues new credit in your name.
A fraud alert is free, lasts one year, and when you add one you’re entitled to a free copy of your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus.
How to Add a Fraud Alert
Go to the fraud alert pages on any one of the three major credit bureaus’ websites, and follow their prompts to add an alert. You do not have to place an alert with all three agencies. Whichever one you choose is required to contact the other two agencies to place a fraud alert on your report.
Protect Your Credit, Protect Your Future
The consequences of having your identity stolen will haunt you for years to come, making it hard or impossible to get out of debt, refinance a loan, or obtain a mortgage. Protecting yourself from this mass data breach will protect your dreams for the future.
If you dream of owning a home or are looking to refinance your mortgage, email us or give us a call at (310) 874-1278.