My Personal Info Was Compromised in A Data Breach: What to Do Now

You’ve probably heard about the latest data breach. The biggest claim of the headlines: hackers stole the social security numbers of every American. 

Personal Info Compromised in A Data Breach – Here’s What Happened:

An estimated 2.9 billion people were impacted in a breach that involves National Public Data. This is a company that does background checks and collects personal data, whether you gave them permission or not. There is a lawsuit claiming National Public Data was negligent and info was easily stolen and put up for sale on the dark web. 

The Danger of Having Your Personal Info Compromised

The hackers gained access to the personal information including Social Security numbers, current and past addresses and the names of siblings and parents — personal data that could allow fraudsters to infiltrate financial accounts or take out loans in your name.

My Personal Info Was Compromised – What Now?

Identity theft can tank your credit score, block your access to government or important services, and cost you a lot of time and money. Here are the steps you should take to minimize any personal impact:

1. 1. Check your credit report

      You can obtain this for free from various online platforms such as Dovly AI or even directly from the credit bureaus. Now that you have your credit report in front of you, it’s time to put on your detective hat and start looking for any potential issues or discrepancies such as:

      1. Inquiries: this is the first indicator that someone has a hold of your information and has started applying for loans.
      2. Personal information: this is a scary section if you detect changes. You want to look for new addresses, new variations of your name, new phone number(s). At this point the thieves have access to your personal information and have made changes to your credit profiles so they can start applying for credit under their address. 
      3. Accounts: If you see newly opened accounts, the thieves have successfully breached your personal information and obtained a loan.
         

   2. Found an issue? Dispute it!

      If you do spot an error of any kind, reach out to the credit bureau that reported the error and submit a dispute or you can contact a credit repair company to help you dispute errors and offer credit advice. Dovly AI can work on your behalf with the credit bureaus to straighten out any inaccurate information. Dovly AI is a free AI credit engine that can help you track, manage, and improve your credit. Dovly, is an advanced credit engine that (re)builds, monitors and protects your credit. You can sign up for free today and make a big impact in your financial future.
      

   3. Sign up for a credit monitoring service

      Credit monitoring tracks your credit report and score for changes or issues, providing alerts for potential fraud or significant updates. Sign up today and Dovly AI will alert you of the opening of new accounts in your name or any other changes to your credit report.
      

   4. Protect yourself by freezing your credit reports

      If you don’t plan to apply for a new loan or credit card in the near future you should freeze your credit. This is a step you can take to protect yourself by taking control of your credit report. Potential creditors are unable to access your credit report when you have a freeze in place unless you have it unfrozen, and no new accounts can be opened in your name. You’ll want to freeze your credit with all three of the major credit bureaus:
      – Experian
      – Equifax
      – Transunion
      
      You’ll also want to freeze your credit with LexisNexis, a secondary credit reporting agencies. Make sure to also upt-out of LexisNexis data products using this form.
      

      

   5. Freeze banking repository:

      This is another security measure that prevents prevents the approval of new checking, savings, credit card and/or loan accounts in your name without your express consent, and is free to request. Check it out here.

   6. Get an IP PIN from the IRS to prevent future tax identity fraud

      Reach out to the IRS to request an Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN), a six-digit number that provides another way for you to prevent identity thieves from filing fraudulent tax returns using your personal information.

   7. Stay calm and be proactive:

      Additional steps you should take include protecting your data by using a password manager, rolling all your passwords, and enabling 2 factor authentication on your logins.  

Another important step against ID theft would be to sign up to an ID theft protection service such as Dovly AI, that can prevent loans being taken out on your name and causing extreme damage to your credit.

Dovly AI’s Premium service also includes a $1M ID theft insurance policy. In the event that your identity is stolen and used fraudulently, Dovly AI can help you fix your credit and recover money that was lost. 

Don’t hesitate to reach out to Dovly AI for help. We use our proprietary AI credit engine to help you (re)build, manage, and protect your credit score. To get started for free, click HERE.