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Data Breaches
These days it is not uncommon to hear about a data breach at another company that stores our personal information. Anthem ( Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans) was the latest company to hit the news last month ( Anthem Data Breach Info). Their data breach was particularly troubling because "The information accessed may have included names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, health care ID numbers, home addresses, email addresses, employment information, including income data." Exactly all the information a criminal needs to open bank and credit card accounts, or file tax returns, in our names. I believe we now live in a time where we have lost control of our personal information. So what can we do?
Credit Freezes To protect myself one action I can think to do is to freeze my credit reports. There are three main credit reporting companies, TransUnion, Equifax and Experian and if you freeze your credit report with them then a criminal can not open an account in your name. In the future if you ever need to apply for credit, a mortgage, car loan or credit card, etc, you would un-freeze your report just long enough for the application to go through. In some states it is free to freeze your file but then you may have to pay a modest fee, maybe $10, to un-freeze it and re-freeze it in the future. Fees depend on the state where you reside. For my money $10 is well worth it to avoid the headaches of identity thief. I have heard that once an identity thief has occurred it is months if not years getting it all straighten out.
Consider placing a "Credit Freeze" on your account. The three major national credit bureaus are: TransUnion P.O. Box 390 Springfield, PA 19064-0390 (800) 916-8800 http://www.transunion.com/securityfreezePlace or lift freeze online or call 888-909-8872 Experian P.O. Box 949 Allen, TX 75013-0949 (888) 397-3742 https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.htmlPlace or lift freeze online or call 888-397-3742 Equifax P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348 (800) 685-1111 http://www.equifax.com/help/credit-freeze/en_cpPlace or lift freeze online or call 888-766-0008 Also, every 4 months think about getting a free annual credit report from one of the three main companies. That way you spread out over the year monitoring your credit report. Go to https://www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling 1-877-322-8228. Q: Should you order all three reports now or spread them out over time? A: The answer depends on you. If you are thinking about buying something big soon - a new car or even a home - you may want to get all of your credit reports now. That way you can correct any mistakes on all of them right away. If you are not planning a big purchase, requesting them over time might be a better choice. When you spread them out, watch for expected changes or suspicious activity throughout the year. Whichever strategy you choose, mark your calendar so you know when you can request your next free credit report.
More info:
Have Credit Card Companies Email or Text You of Transactions Another thing you can do is tell your credit card company to send you an email or text message any time your credit card is used. Recently I was alerted at 11:30 pm one Saturday night that someone had used my credit card for a digital download online. Before the transaction had even moved from "Pending" to "Posted" in my account I had contacted the credit card company to changed my credit card number and send me a new card. You can often do this online by signing in to the website of your credit card company and look for where you can sign up for notifications.
IRS and State Taxing Agencies
I believe it is time to pressure the IRS and state taxing agencies to lock down our files with them as well. We should be able to freeze our files with these agencies so that criminals can not file tax returns in our names and try to steal refunds. I'm sure it would not be too hard to come up with a tax filing freeze the same way credit bureaus can freeze and un-freeze our files.
If you have not yet heard about this scam here is what criminals are up to now. Once they have your personal information they can attempt to file a tax return in your name to try and claim a refund. Intuit, the company that makes TurboTax recently had to suspend filing state tax returns because of a flood of fraudulent activity.
I believe it is time to pressure legislators to pass laws to freeze our files with governmental agencies.
Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271
Does WWW stands for World, Wide, Web or Wild, Wild, West? You decide!
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