The recent breach of personal information from the credit monitoring agency Equifax has left nearly 150 million Americans vulnerable to cyber criminals. The CEO of Equifax resigned and will be appearing before congress to testify about the attack. Regardless of what the outcome is for Equifax, the average American will need to be more vigilant than ever to avoid being a victim of cyber theft.
In my last blog entry about the breach, I talked about setting up credit freezes and identity monitoring services, as well as filing tax returns as early as possible so criminals can’t file false returns in your name. In addition to these steps, you should go online to the Social Security Administration and set up a my Social Security account to ensure that you are in control of the account, even if you are many years away from receiving Social Security benefits. By doing this proactively, you stop criminals from registering an account in your name and stealing your benefits.
Since people’s Social Security, credit cards, driver’s license, and addresses were leaked, it could be very easy for criminals to masquerade as someone else for fraudulent purposes. For even more security, you can consider blocking access to your Social Security record so that no one can access your personal information online or over the phone. You can activate the block by going to Social Security Lock and following their instructions. Stay vigilant, the last thing you want when you’re ready to retire is to find out that someone else has been claiming your Social Security benefits for years.