In August 2024, a new class action lawsuit claimed that every American's Social Security number was stolen in a data breach that occurred in April 2024.
The lawsuit says that hackers stole the personal information of 3 billion people, including every existing Social Security number, from background check company National Public Data (NPD). If true, this would mean every American is at risk of having their identity stolen.
While the exact details of the breach are not confirmed, don't wait. Freeze your credit now and keep it frozen by default.
Freezing your credit:
• Is free.
• Doesn't impact your credit score.
• Is easy and fast to un-freeze if you need to apply for credit.
Freezing your credit prevents anyone from applying for lines of credit (such as credit cards and mortgages) using your identity. This includes you, but you can temporarily unfreeze or thaw your credit and re-freeze it.
Contact Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, the three credit reporting bureaus, to initiate a freeze. You must freeze your credit with each bureau—you can do this online or over the phone. We recommend keeping your credit frozen by default.
If you discover someone attempted to open a credit card under your name or discover unauthorized charges, dispute the situation immediately with the bank or credit card company.
You can even freeze your children's credit, too. Cybercriminals can try to create a different name and identity using a child's Social Security number—sometimes it doesn't matter that the number doesn't belong to an adult. This fraud can happen for years and might be undetected until the victim turns 18! The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has more details.
This article was written by the National Cybersecurity Alliance and appeared here.