Worried About Identity Theft? Here’s What to Do After a Data Breach

Data breach is disturbingly common, and you don’t want its next victim to be you. That’s why you need to know what to do if your data has been breached. We want to help you understand how to prevent identity theft and how common data breaches are.

Online account security is one of the top consumer issues facing shoppers. In fact, the number of publicly reported personal data breach incidents has increased by 78% from 2022 to 2023, and 2024 seems to be following the trend. 

In this article, we have compiled the tips to give you the best shot at mitigating the effects of data theft if it does occur and to prevent it from happening again. 

Key Insights

• The federal annual crime report accounts for over $12.5 billion lost in 2023 after identity theft cases.
• Important identity protection steps include changing passwords, enabling two-step verification, and to monitor accounts closely. 
• Monitoring your financial accounts with tools like fraud alert and transaction safeguards helps protect your money from data breaches. 

Signs Your Data May Have Been Compromised

The first step to protecting your identity and financial information is establishing that you are currently protected. You need to know how to check if your personal information has been compromised already. After all, data protection tips in the world aren’t helpful if your information has already been stolen and you were not aware of it. 

Data loss has become so common that many consumers can easily track the source of the breach. A recent thread on Reddit discussed well-known organizations such as AT&T and Dell, and even the IRS, which have lost information. In the conversation, at least one poster confirmed the source of the data leak, thanks to an unusual misspelling of his first name. He claims that he has gotten spam calls and emails using the wrong name for years, so he knows the data was initially leaked from AT&T.

Source: reddit.com

So, how do you know if organizations have done their part to safeguard personal information? Unfortunately, there is not a single database of breaches available. With so many people using credit cards to shop online and companies storing personal financial information in the cloud, there are countless sources of leaks. 

That leaves customers in the uncomfortable position of monitoring emails and even news stories from companies and organizations about potential leaks. Sometimes companies will stay mum after a data breach, as the National Public Data (NPD) organization did after a huge data leak until someone takes legal action to protect consumer rights. 

Rather than losing sleep over the possibility of a data leak, check the most important measure of your financial health and security – your credit score. You are allowed one free credit report per year. Pull your report and check to be sure no new accounts are opened. New activity on your credit report is a glaring red alert that your data has been compromised. 

Once you’ve ensured your report is clear, set up additional monitoring and security measures, just as you would set up financial protection after a data breach, to keep yourself safe moving forward. 

What to Do When You Become a Victim of a Data Breach

But what happens when you pull your credit report or receive an alert that you have been the victim of a data breach? Consider these crucial steps. 

Step 1: Find out what was breached 

Use the online tools available from your institutions or your online protection software to alert you to what was stolen. You may also receive an official notification from your bank or financial institution alerting you to a particular theft. Set up monitoring and enable notifications to be sure you’re not missing any important alerts.

Step 2: Change your passwords

Immediately change your passwords. Strong passwords are essential to protecting your account access, so choose wisely and change often. Passwords should be complex, not tied to common words or personal information, and changed frequently – even if you are not a data breach victim. 

Step 3: Enable two-factor authentication

Two-factor authentication is a powerful weapon among cybersecurity tips. Two-factor authentication requires you to use two different measures to sign into your account. Your first factor may be your password, but the second factor may include a code sent to your phone, opening a different app to enable the sign-in, or a facial scan or secondary code of another sort. 

The more things you must complete before logging in, the less likely it is that someone can hack into your account. So be sure you have two-factor authentication turned on for every account where it is offered. 

Step 4: Monitor your financial accounts

Most thieves aren’t stealing information just for the fun of it. They are stealing it for financial gain. That means data theft may eventually circle back to your bank accounts since that is where the prize is found. You should always monitor your financial accounts and take proactive measures, like a credit freeze, to prevent new account activity at all times.

Pull your annual credit report for an exhaustive review, then turn on credit monitoring with your financial institutions to be alerted to every activity with your bank account and overall credit. 

Unfortunately, this type of credit monitoring isn’t foolproof. Thieves are sneaky, after all. One frustrated Wallethub consumer had their data stolen in “the AT&T Data breach,” and the thief created “a fraudulent wallethub account under [their] identity.”

Even though the customer had frozen his credit, the thief “still somehow pulled in all of [their] transunion details” and later used the information to rent an apartment. When the customer contacted WalletHub to investigate, it took two weeks and ultimately turned up two additional fraudulent accounts using the same stolen information:

…the thief was able to monitor all of my credit activity in real time, like when I unfroze my credit to apply for an account. The thief used my transunion credit report from wallethub to rent an apartment!

Step 5: Delete accounts you’re not using

Why leave old accounts open with personal information attached? Close as many old profiles as you can to protect your passwords, names, and any financial data that may still be linked inside them.

Step 6: Report identity theft

Finally, once you have identified the theft and you are working on protecting yourself, involve the authorities. Report theft immediately to your bank or other financial institutions. 

Also, reach out to legal authorities. You can report fraudulent accounts to the State Auditor’s Office and the Federal Trade Commission in your state. The local police will be able to issue a police report quickly, which will help with financial institutions, and you may choose to reach out to your local district attorney as well for assistance. 

Finding Help when Data Breaches Occur

While financial and legal resources are available after a personal data breach, you also have options for personal support. Is PissedConsumer legit when it comes to the community? Absolutely. Report your experiences on this review platform, and you’ll join a community of others with similar experiences who may be able to offer advice on the next steps. 

While a review can’t resolve issues with stolen data, it can help alert other would-be customers to companies with privacy concerns or help engage the company and community for support in your resolutions. Why not write a review and share your own experiences?