{"id":2904,"date":"2017-09-17T18:10:40","date_gmt":"2017-09-17T23:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sherylschuff.com\/blog\/?p=2904"},"modified":"2017-09-17T18:10:40","modified_gmt":"2017-09-17T23:10:40","slug":"how-to-protect-yourself-from-identity-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sherylschuff.com\/blog\/credit\/how-to-protect-yourself-from-identity-theft\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Protect Yourself From Identity Theft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you know how to protect yourself from identity theft?<\/span><\/p>\n

First, don\u2019t waste time trying to find out if your personal financial info has been stolen because it really doesn\u2019t matter. Take action NOW!<\/span><\/p>\n

Put a credit freeze on your account at each of the three major credit bureaus<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to do this on-line and it\u2019s free.<\/span><\/p>\n

Equifax<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span>
\n Experian<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span>
\n Trans Union<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve done that, no one will be able to check your credit using those companies, making it nearly impossible for anyone to extend credit to someone pretending to be you. If YOU want your credit checked, for example when you\u2019re looking for a job or applying for a car loan or mortgage, you\u2019ll need to temporarily unfreeze your account.<\/span><\/p>\n

To do that at Equifax or Experian, use the PIN number they gave you when you started the freeze. Remember to refreeze the account after the credit check is done.<\/span><\/p>\n

To unfreeze your account at Trans Union, use the free app you got when you started the freeze (it\u2019s included with their free TrueIdentity program). Remember to refreeze your account after the credit check is done.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sign up for free credit scores and ongoing monitoring<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Credit Karma<\/strong><\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

(I\u2019ve had my account with them for several years). <\/span><\/p>\n

Check your email every day and\/or set yourself a text alert so you\u2019ll know whenever they send you a message. Their service won\u2019t do you any good if you don\u2019t pay attention to the results they deliver!<\/span><\/p>\n

Check your bank & credit card balances first thing every morning<\/strong><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

(so you\u2019ll be able to spot any suspicious transactions as soon as they occur and follow up on them)<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t click on any links in emails that look like they\u2019re from your bank or credit card company; always log in to those sites directly from your web browser<\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That should keep you safe from phishing & pharming attacks as well as secret installations of malware and ransomware on your computer, tablet, or phone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stay safe!<\/span><\/p>\n

P.S. If you\u2019re a business owner, protecting your identity is super important. Knowing a few of your personal details can make it quite simple for an imposter to steal your entire web site. Make sure you have multi-factor authentication set up at your domain name registrar.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you know how to protect yourself from identity theft?<\/p>\n

First, don\u2019t waste time trying to find out if your personal financial info has been stolen because it really doesn\u2019t matter. Take action NOW!<\/p>\n

Put a credit freeze on your account at each of the three major credit bureaus<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to do this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","tve_updated_post":"","tve_custom_css":"","tve_user_custom_css":"","tve_globals":{},"tcb2_ready":0,"tcb_editor_enabled":0,"tve_landing_page":"","_tve_header":"","_tve_footer":""},"categories":[238],"tags":[299,298,241,300],"class_list":["post-2904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-credit","tag-credit-freeze","tag-credit-monitoring","tag-credit-scores","tag-identity-theft","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sherylschuff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sherylschuff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sherylschuff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sherylschuff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sherylschuff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2904"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sherylschuff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2910,"href":"https:\/\/sherylschuff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2904\/revisions\/2910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sherylschuff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sherylschuff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sherylschuff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}