![]() It monitors changes to your credit score, report, and accounts with timely notifications and guidance so you can take action to tackle identity theft. Our credit monitoring service can help you keep an eye on this. ![]() While you’re with them, see if they offer alerts for strange purchases, transactions, or withdrawals. If you see any charges that you did not make, report them to your bank or credit card company immediately. They have processes in place to handle fraud. One of the most effective ways to determine whether someone is fraudulently using one or more of your accounts is to check your statements. Keep an eye on your bank and credit card accounts If you think you were affected by a breach, you can take several steps to protect yourself from the potential side effects. However, this doesn’t mean that your online safety is doomed. If your favorite coffee shop’s customer database gets leaked, there’s a chance that your personal or financial information was exposed. When a company experiences a data breach, customers need to realize that this could impact their online safety. ![]() Likewise, restaurants and retailers have seen their Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals compromised, right on down to neighborhood restaurants. Equifax – 2017: Some 147 million records that included names, addresses, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and Social Security Numbers were exposed, along with a relatively small subset of 200,000 victims having their credit card information exposed as well.Īs mentioned, these are big breaches with big companies that we likely more than recognize. Yet smaller and mid-sized businesses are targets as well, with some 43% of data breaches involving companies of that size.Marriott International (Starwood) – 2018: Half a million guests had names, email and physical mailing addresses, phone numbers, passport numbers, Starwood Preferred Guest account information, dates of birth, and other information about their stays exposed.Facebook – 2021: Two sets of data exposed the records of more than 530 million users, including phone numbers, account names, and Facebook IDs. According to Facebook, the source of the breach dated back to 2019, at which time the flaw was remedied, even though the information was exposed in 2021.Los Angeles Unified School District – 2022: Hackers released 500 GB of highly sensitive information after a breach and when their subsequent ransomware demands were not met, exposing Social Security and passport numbers, health information, and psychological assessments of some students.U-Haul – 2022: A breach which accessed their customer contracts system between November 2021 and April 2022 exposed the names, driver’s license numbers, and state ID numbers of 2.2 million renters.In all, data is a kind of currency in of itself because it has the potential to unlock several aspects of victim’s life, each with its own monetary value. It’s no wonder that big breaches like these have made the news over the years, with some of the notables including: Examples of data breaches over the recent years Either way, this can lead to illicit use of credit and debit cards, draining of bank accounts, claiming tax refunds or medical expenses in the names of the victims, or, in extreme cases, assuming the identity of others altogether. Apart from using it themselves, they may sell that data to other criminals. What do crooks do with that data? Several things. Credit and debit card numbers or bank account details.Contact information for friends and family members.Depending on the breach and the kind of information you’ve shared with the business or organization in question, information stolen in a breach could include: Whether it’s a major breach that exposes millions of records or one of many other smaller-scale breaches like the thousands that have struck healthcare providers , each one serves as a reminder that data breaches happen regularly and that we could find ourselves affected. In other words, we leave trails of data practically wherever we go these days, and that data is of high value to hackers. Thus, all those breaches we read about. How does that information get collected in the first place? We share personal information with companies for multiple reasons simply by going about our day-to pay for takeout at our favorite restaurant, to check into a hotel, or to collect rewards at the local coffee shop. Of course, we use our credit and debit cards too, sometimes as part of an online account that tracks our purchase history. Did you just get word that your personal information may have been caught up in a data breach? If so, you can take steps to protect yourself from harm should your info get into the hands of a scammer or thief.
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