Real-time fraud alerts are available by text, phone, and email. In most cases if you request a thaw online or over the phone, your report can be unfrozen within 15 minutes. Internet users experienced this commercial fraud prevention during the 12 months ending April 2004. Of those, 70 percent do their banking or pay their bills online and over half believed they received a phishing e-mail. Even if you don’t receive social security benefits yet, checking your MySSA account can help you spot changes to your personal information that might indicate thieves trying to claim your benefits over the phone. However, it can take longer if you don’t have your PIN that was assigned to you when you froze your report, so make sure to keep your PIN in a safe, memorable place where you can quickly retrieve it when needed. Don’t keep all of your identification or important documents in one location while you’re traveling. Many apps have the ability to track your location even when you’re not using them.

Destroy the courtesy cheques if you do not plan on using them. A good way to find out if someone is using your child’s information to commit fraud is to check if your child has a credit report. However, some news outlets have reported fraudulent accounts being opened by cell phone companies using credit reports provided by the National Consumer Telecommunications & Utilities Exchange (NCTUE). Most creditors will not issue new credit to a customer if they cannot see that customer’s credit report or the credit score derived from it from at least one of the three big nationwide consumer reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Avast Hack Check is a free tool you can use to see if any of your passwords have been exposed in a breach. There are some sites that offer no strings attached, free services – just expect to see ads. And know that the credit scores on those sites are most likely not FICO scores as used by most creditors. There are now multiple candidates competing for jobs within your market sector with identical resumes and different names. However, if and when someone does steal your information, there are a variety of ways it can be used, depending on what was taken.

Credit monitoring alerts you to changes to your credit reports, which can help you spot unauthorized credit accounts opened in your name. Request your driving record to help spot traffic violations committed in your name. Requesting free reports with these specialty bureaus every year could help you spot various fraudulent activities done in your name. Each new year brings new strategies taken by identity thieves and fraudsters. You can temporarily lift a freeze for a particular creditor or for a specific period of time, from one day to one year. A customer service representative from 1-800-MEDICARE can call you if you’ve called and left a message or a representative said that someone would call you back. Earlier in the week, Lycamobile paid a AU$600,000 fine levelled at it, after ACMA found what it called “prolonged and large-scale customer data failures, which could have put people in danger”. Data security refers to the measures put in place to protect that control and make sure data is used as intended. Use this checklist to help you control how your personal information is used or shared online. Check the privacy settings on your mobile device to control the access that different apps have to your personal information, including location, personal contacts, photos, calendar, and health data.

Avoid posting personal data in public forums. Have I Been Pwned is a free tool you can use to check whether your online accounts may have been compromised in data breaches. Credit freezes do not affect your ability to use existing credit you already have, such as a credit card or loan. If anyone has tried to take out a loan or credit card in your name, you will be notified. Yes it is a pain, but it is a very safe measure to take. Make sure to account for the time it can take to thaw your report. Regardless of your choice, whether it be do-it-yourself, a professional identity protection company, credit monitoring or some combination of these, the important thing is that you take action to protect yourself and your loved ones. Because creditors run credit checks with any one or a combination of the three big credit bureaus, you need to block access to your reports with all three.