What's the best defense against identity theft?

arakboss · Sep 17, 2020

MaxwellEdison said:
1. As mentioned, freeze your credit reports with the Big 3 credit bureaus.

2. Use strong passwords for EVERYTHING you do on the Internet. Passwords like "Yjx72*R3k?uf!T" are ideal and can be easily managed with a password manager on mobile and desktop platforms.

3.Use a free credit monitoring app like Credit Karma. Every week it takes me all of 2 minutes to log into Credit Karma to ensure there are no "surprises" with my credit. And over the years, Credit Karma has become more and more useful with the data they provide. (It's safe, too. They use bank-level encryption.)

4.Check your FICO credit score once per month. If you have a credit card, many of those will provide this for free these days. If your credit score takes an unexpected plunge, that could very well mean you have a problem.

5.While subscription credit monitoring services/identity theft monitoring services are not completely useless, most of the services and info they provide can be obtained for free elsewhere. And if you've locked your credit with the bureaus it should - theoretically anyway - be very difficult for another person to obtain credit in your name. (A friend of mine was recently notified by the SBA that someone tried to take out a pandemic small business loan in her name. That effort was blocked only because her credit file had been frozen at the Big 3 bureaus.)

6. Practice good "identity hygiene". Shred all paperwork with personally identifiable information. Never give out your SS# or other valuable info over the phone unless you were the person who initiated the call (and providing that info passes the "sniff test"). When you get emails, text messages or phone calls saying "There's a problem with your XXXX account", assume it's a phishing attempt...because it probably is. Basically, you need to exercise a great deal of common sense. Many people don't.

7. Set up "alerts" on all credit cards. If someone charges so much as 1 cent on my credit cards, I immediately get a text message telling me. A few years ago someone bought $300 worth of shoes at the Lloyd Center Footlocker using my Discover Card number. I was notified immediately and called that Footlocker within 60 seconds to tell them "That was a fraudulent transaction." They detained the thief (a young woman) and she was arrested. Apparently she was with other people who took off when they quickly figured out something was up. (After calling Footlocker I also immediately deactivated the card on the Discover app.) I was lucky in that I sprung into action quickly, and the manager at this Footlocker was himself very willing to help. Not all businesses will be so cooperative.

8. No matter what you do, remain vigilant. No one is ever 100% safe from identity theft. If you think you may have an issue get on top of it immediately. Criminals can do a great amount of damage in a very short amount of time. Also, if you do encounter a problem check your homeowners or renters insurance policy. Mine provides identity theft insurance & help. I didn't ask for it and it doesn't cost extra. It's just a newer benefit my policy provides.

Great tips and well written to boot.

Olderguy · Sep 17, 2020

So these people, usually a guy with a heavy accent, that keeps calling from social security to tell me there is a security problem and wants my social security number are probably just trying to help me. I do not understand why, with all of the technology we have that these robo calls and attempts to steal personal data can't be stopped. Also have received calls from our grandson wants me to send him money- always answers to whatever name I give him for the grandson. One of these calls had caller ID as a county jail. As a retired PI - there's a lot of personal info out there on the Internet- your name, address, age, relatives, etc that is available to anyone. Social security numbers have been pretty restricted for some time.

Shred everything and never ever give out your social security number over the phone or Internet, IMHO.

Heyjoe · Sep 17, 2020

TheLGuyDOTcom · Sep 17, 2020

MaxwellEdison provides great advice on what we should be doing, I do all he suggests except for relying on a endorsement on a homeowners policy that likely has a very small financial limit, very narrow coverage and no professional restoration. Every one of us would be wise to do what he suggests.

I don't worry about credit fraud - the banks are so good at catching it now, the steps above are a huge barrier to thieves. What I do worry about is the time to restore my credit and, more importantly, my driving record, my criminal record, my employment record and, God forbid, I get emergency medical treatment based commingled info in my medical files.

So, don't worry if you are the majority who won't get tapped this year, or if it is simply a small amount of credit fraud. But, like having to draw your gun in self defense - which will likely never ever happen - do you want to be protected for the fury that will hit you like this friend of mine www.MyIDCover.com/cdl Your choice now, not after.

Cosimel · Sep 17, 2020

There is another way, I can't say I'd recommend it, mostly because it's intentionally difficult to live in our society without using credit, and there are plenty of institutionalized 'punishments' to be dealt with, but it will keep people from stealing your identity simply because it's worthless. I'd lost my job of over 11 years within the months following 9/11, after my unemployment ran out and I blew through all my savings, I had no choice but to pack up the contents of my apartment, put 99% of it in a storage unit so that I could surf the couch at my parents home. At some point during that initial six months I had my life in that storage unit, some tweakers broke in (I suspect an 'inside job') and cleared out everything but my bed, kitchen table, and a box full of pots and pans. Everything else, including just enough information (from old college school work (social security number), shipping label on boxes I'd used to pack up my apartment, even old yearbooks (place of birth) and love letters mailed to me at prior addresses (my date of birth) that they were able to steal my identity. Fortunately for me (kind of) by then my credit was already ruined by my last ditch effects to remain in my apartment, so they were unable to do anything with my ID; a few credit card denials and one failed attempt at a home loan. That was nearly twenty years ago and I've made no effort to re-establish credit resulting in a compromised life style, but for all it's down side, the upside is that I'm debt free, have learned to pay as I go effectively improving my purchase decisions not to mention valuing what I have to work for, and nobody wants to steal my identity. In the end, the biggest downsides are having to rely on others for a loan when needed and help as a co-signer when renting property, but those things come up so rarely I truly feel free compared to people I must occasionally turn to for help.

sobo · Sep 17, 2020

What @MaxwellEdison said.

gun4me · Sep 20, 2020

HaveGun said:
When I was married, thanks to my ex-wife's horrible handling of finances, my FICO score never got above 650 or so in twenty years. Never had a single issue with identity theft or fraud.

Now that I've been divorced a few years and managing my finances like an adult, my score is in the upper 700's. Oddly enough, I've had a couple of instances of identity theft the past couple of years. I guess my identity is now finally worth stealing, lol.

I signed up for Norton identity protection and my boss at work said it was useless. He should know since he is a former FBI cyber security expert. I guess it is since I had my identity stolen and used to file for Arizona unemployment and nary a peep out of them. I canceled it.

I'll ask him this week what I should do, but thought some folks here might have had some insight on what works.

gun4me · Sep 20, 2020

I use the 1 year credit fraud alert. It works well. Any new creditors, are suppose to contact you before issuing any new credits to your account/ssn number. I have used it for years and works well. The best thing to do, if ur not in need of new purchases/credit info checks soon , is the credit freeze. BUT NEVER EVER forget or lose ur confirmation number. It will be a real pain to square away if you do.......................................