This is the next article in The Secure Your Life Series. In Password Managers and Online Portals I wrote about locking down your logins. This one is about stopping someone from becoming you: opening credit in your name, filing a tax return as you, or draining an account before you notice.
I put together a one-page checklist for a neighbor, and it is free for anyone who wants it. Print it, follow it top to bottom, and hand a copy to your parents.
What the checklist covers
- Freeze your credit at all three bureaus. Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. It is free by federal law, does not hurt your score, and stops anyone from opening a new loan or card in your name. The sheet shows how to freeze and how to thaw it when you need a loan.
- Get an IRS Identity Protection PIN. A 6-digit number that must be on any tax return filed with your Social Security number, so no one else can file as you and take your refund.
- Get a text for every bank and card transaction. Set the alert minimum to $0.01 on every account and card, so a charge you did not make shows up in minutes, not on next month’s statement.
- Remove your information from data brokers (optional). Services such as Incogni, DeleteMe and Optery send removal requests to the sites that sell your name, address and phone number.
- Simple habits. Weekly free credit reports, unique passwords with two-step sign-in, shredding, and never giving details to someone who contacted you first.
Get the free checklist
Enter your name and email and the one-page PDF will be emailed to you.
If it happens to you anyway, go to identitytheft.gov for a free recovery plan.
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