Another Day, Another Breach
Cybersecurity teams around the world will have their jobs secured for a very long time. No surprise here, hackers have found their way again. This time, they have infiltrated T-Mobile’s systems, a haul affecting at least 48 million people. With so many data breaches happening every other day, here is a breakdown of what happens, the risks you might face, and how you can protect yourself against them.
What Happens?
Hackers infiltrating companies will try to get as much sensitive data as they can so they can resell on the dark web. Data includes names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, driver’s license, login credentials, and anything else you can think of. It's pretty scary to think about, and it seems with all of the data breaches happening to so many companies that no one is safe.
Most affected companies will notify users whose data was exposed and will generally provide one or two years of identity theft protection service for free. However, these types of reactive approaches are not suitable for your wallet and peace of mind.
What Are the Risks?
Much of the information exposed by T-Mobile is probably already available on the dark web. But that doesn’t mean you should shrug off what happened. Those whose data were exposed face significant risks of identity theft, phishing scams, and other forms of fraud. Social Security numbers are widely used by the federal government, banks, investment companies, government benefit programs, and insurers to verify identity. Your stolen Social Security can be used to open fraudulent credit card accounts, divert or fraudulently collect benefits and commit workplace fraud, among other forms of deceit. Throw in your name, birth date, and driver’s license number, and it’s exponentially easier for someone to pretend to be you.
Identity thieves could use that information to target both you and the banks, insurers, and other companies you do business with. For example, they could use it to make phishing emails seem more realistic, helping to persuade you to give up additional sensitive information such as a password or PIN. Or they could use it to dupe your bank into letting them change the password on your account, giving them access to your money.
How Do You Protect Yourself?
Freezing your credit with all three major credit bureaus is the single most important thing you can do to protect yourself against identity theft and stop criminals from opening lines of credit in your name — and it’s free! But you have to contact each of the three major credit bureaus individually, which you can do online. If you want to have even more protection, you can consider freezing the credit files maintained by a handful of smaller, specialized agencies. You should also check your credit score regularly, which is an excellent way to detect fraud after it happens. Continue reading below for a detailed explanation of how you can protect yourself and your family.
How Do You Freeze Your Credit?
Contact each of the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — individually to freeze your credit:
Equifax: Call 888-298-0045 or simply click this link. It will take you straight to Equifax’s resource page and you will be able to manage your freeze from there:
Experian: Call 888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742) or simply click this link. It will take you straight to Experian’s resource page and you will be able to manage your freeze from there:
TransUnion: Call 888-909-8872 or simply click this link. It will take you straight to Transunion’s resource page and you will be able to manage your freeze from there:
You can also freeze your credit report at two lesser-known credit bureaus that may have information about you:
Innovis: Call 800-540-2505 or click this link for more information.
National Consumer Telecom & Utilities Exchange: Call 866-343-2821 or click this link for more information.
Generally, you need to provide your Social Security number, birth date, and other information confirming your identity. Once you’ve frozen your credit, you may find that you need to apply for a loan or open a new line of credit. In that case, you’ll need to unfreeze (some credit bureaus may use the terms “lift” or “thaw”) your credit with one or more of the credit bureaus, depending on which one your lender uses.
Go to the credit bureau website(s) and use the login credentials you used to freeze your credit to unfreeze it temporarily. You can simply choose to unfreeze for a specified time period, after which the freeze automatically resumes.
Parting Words?
Freezing your credit is one of the most important steps you can take to stop criminals from opening accounts in your name. But even with your credit frozen, you’ll still want to keep an eye out on your credit reports and scores. Before you freeze your credit you should sign up for free credit monitoring with Credit Karma and/or with all of your credit card providers. Make sure to sign up for these free resources to monitor your credit going forward to continue monitoring all activity. No reason to pay for a subscription when so many providers offer this service for free.
