Learn about the latest ID theft schemes so you can protect your personal data
At best, hackers will sell your personal data. At worst, they’ll control your car’s brakes while you’re driving.
Companies lack the funding, staff, and know-how to protect your information — which makes you vulnerable to identity theft.
Protecting your personal information isn’t that hard, so why aren’t we doing it?
If you aren’t teaching your kids about privacy online, their identity could be stolen.
Are you a victim of identity theft? It might be partly your fault.
Don’t panic, all is not lost if your identity is stolen.
Thanks to the worst data breach ever, we all get an amazing new crime-fighting tool.
Most of the safest states are Democratic-leaning, while the riskiest are mainly Republican-leaning.
We don’t protect our data, but punish companies when they don’t either.
We rely on review sites to make our convictions.
Businesses struggle to fill cybersecurity jobs, despite higher budgets.
These six companies have you covered.
Cyber attacks cost them more than $19 billion last year, research says.
Information Technology workers get paid to prevent identity theft, but CEO’s never take their advice.
Millions of medical records are stolen each year. But some are sold, and the price tag is almost insulting.
Nearly 1 million customers are at risk. Here’s what to do right NOW.
Where rich people shop, how bad customer service really is, and why hackers might stop identity theft.
What happens when you combine identity theft with taxes? Double the trouble and twice the pain.
It’s a rightfully growing fear among American consumers.
Debt.com has a Friday feature called By The Numbers. It’s compiled by our editors and consists of four randomly weird facts they’ve stumbled across each week while researching the finance-related information we post every day. The feature has become quite popular on social media, so today I’ll pay homage with a much less strange set of […]
Most companies aren’t prepared for data breaches, as more than half of U.S. companies have been hacked so far this year.
One of these tech experts even got ripped off. Learn what they know.
They fear having their Social Security or bank account info stolen the most.
Americans believe their private data is at risk when online shopping or banking, but don’t think their information is at risk on a public Wi-Fi network. Why not?
And the companies that have it aren’t protecting it.
If you’re deeply in debt and have no money for anyone to steal, you’re wrong.
There are more than 8,000 security flaws from four different pacemaker manufacturers.
More than half of Americans have been, or know, a victim of identity theft. They still barely protect themselves.
Rich or poor, hackers want your information
It not only helps him stay debt-free, it also protects him.
Whether it’s a text message, phone call, email or letter, your banking institution can let you know when fraudulent activity occurs on your account. Do you get fraud alerts?
Debit card compromises are up dramatically and ATMs are a huge part of it.
The Internet of Things and stolen fingerprints are among the biggest scam predictions for 2017.
We might have had billions of dollars in tax fraud last year but most Americans aren’t worried about getting scammed.
This is shaping up to be a bad year for data breaches, but does anyone care?
We’re getting our medical data stolen, and most scammers are taking it straight from the hospitals themselves
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44 percent of Americans are worried about their personal health care information being stolen and at least one record is stolen everyday.
I sadly predict massive computer hacking on a scale not seen in years past.
While this is the time to give, many others are trying to take away.
Follow these three steps, and you’ll avoid the latest, hottest brand of identity theft.
Amy Schumer, Just Bieber top the list of the most dangerous celebrities to search for online.
The U.S. is third in the world for credit card fraud. This is the second time that the U.S. has been in the top three.
Do you have old hard drives you want to sell or get rid of? Chances are you’ll leave private information on them once you hand them over.
If banks give this generation the tools to bank easier and safer, they’ll earn themselves loyal customers. If not…
Hackers can lock you out of your files and make you pay to get them back. Here’s what to do.
We’re not going to get rid of it. So let’s manage it.
Where polling matters most isn’t in politics. It’s in personal finance.
![Is There a Statute of Limitations on Debt, Can I Just Not Pay? [video] - Debt.com](https://mk0zezosobuapu92jg73.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/howard.jpg)
Here’s what I’ve learned so far this month, and it’s made me both laugh and cry.
The answer may depress you. It depresses me.
We share blame for the identity theft epidemic. Here’s the cure.
By law, every consumer can check their credit for free once every twelve months. There’s even a government-mandated web portal set up where you can download your reports. Just answer a few security questions and you can download the reports from all three bureaus.
When it comes to preventing identity theft, you want to look for two things:
Name variations are often assigned incorrectly, so you can end up with collection accounts that aren’t yours. If you have accounts listed in your credit report that you didn’t authorize or open, it’s a sure sign of theft.
A yearly review is one of your best lines of defense to catch ID theft early.
The Social Security Administration created a special portal where anyone with a Social Security number can set up an online account. Whenever someone tries to claim benefits or use your number, the portal notifies you. This helps you catch Social Security fraud early, which is important because it’s the worst type of theft to handle.
Note: Do wait to do this! If someone steals your Social Security number, they can set up an account in your name. That means there’s a much lower chance of catching the theft, because the thieves intercept all your warnings!
First off, change your passwords often. This helps prevent theft. You should also use one password for only one account. With today’s technology, it’s really easy to use a random password generator to create 16-character strings that are impossible to guess. Then, you save your passwords to a secure online vault or on your smartphone so you don’t have to remember them all.
There’s no excuse for using something easily guessable like Password123 or something equally as guessable.
Some phishing scams are easy to spot, but some are easy to fall for because they really seem legitimate. Phishing scams work by convincing you that a service provider you work with needs information from you. They either direct you to a website where they ask for personal information or they ask you to call them. Either way, their goal is to get things like you Social Security number or credit card account information.
If you receive an unsolicited email that directs you to do something, call the service provider’s main customer service line. Don’t call the phone number listed in the email. Just check the company website and call the main customer service line. This ensures you only respond to legitimate requests for information.
Emails are one of the easiest forms of communication that cyberthieves can intercept. So, whether a legitimate service provider asked for it or not, never email private information. Call and give numbers over the phone if they’re needed or ask if there’s a secure website where you can enter the information.
Nobody but you should have your debit card PIN. And nobody on your social networks needs to know your physical address. Oversharing is a big problem for identity theft and social media is only making it worse. Adjust all the security settings on your favorite social networks so you only share stuff with people connected to you. This will help prevent ID theft and also problems like social media identity theft.
Credit monitoring services alert you whenever there’s a change in your credit profile. This helps you catch identity theft as early as possible. It’s also a good way to track your credit score so you can build credit effectively.
If you can’t afford a paid service, there are free ones available. You may also get a monitoring service free through one of your credit card accounts or bank accounts.
Most people are pretty bad about closing old accounts. You may still have a Hotmail account that you haven’t used in over a decade, but it’s still there. And it leaves you open for identity theft if it gets hacked.
If you stop using a service, make sure to close your account. This step is most often skipped with free accounts; you close paid accounts to stop the bills, but free accounts just get left running. So, instead of just deleting that app that you never use anymore, actually take the step of going online to close the account.
Most forms that you fill out ask for your Social Security number even when they don’t need it. If a service provider wants your Social Security number, ask if it’s required. If not, leave the space blank. This happens often with doctor’s offices and veterinarians. Streaming services don’t need your SSN either.
So, always ask why they need the information and if it’s required. If it’s not, don’t provide it!
Impart all these great identity theft tips that you’ve learned to your kids. Teenagers are terrible about oversharing and they’re often not protective enough of their accounts. They may even give their debit card and PIN to a friend because they need money and they’re feeling lazy.
So, don’t let your best ID theft practices be thwarted by kids that don’t know any better. Teach your kids about identity theft and how to avoid it, so they adopt good security practices as early as possible.
