3 Simple Steps You Must Take to Shield Yourself from Identity Theft
How to fortify your identity against the growing threat of fraud.
by Abigael Good
Identity thieves can cause a lot of stress — not to mention damage — if they get access to your personal information. In fact, in a recent GBR survey, 58% of Americans said having their identity stolen would be catastrophic.
Even if you don’t have that same level of concern about identity theft, there are still three key steps you should take to protect yourself. “Rather safe than sorry” is the name of the game.
1. Reset Your Passwords
If you’re concerned about identity theft, the first step is to go through your passwords for all important accounts, from your email to your bank, and make sure they are all different from each other. If you reuse passwords, it is easy for a hacker to gain access to your login information for just one site and use that knowledge to wreak havoc on your identity. You may be extremely vulnerable if you have been mindlessly repeating the same password, or similar passwords, across accounts.
If you need help keeping track of your new, unique passwords, you can use a password manager. Password managers are secure sites where you can store all your logins, so you only need to remember the login to your manager to access all the rest. Of course, make sure your password manager login is extremely strong and not a duplicate of any other account’s login.
2. Sign Up For Alerts
An identity theft protection company can monitor your identity online more thoroughly than you can on your own. For example, LifeLock, one of the most trusted names in Identity theft protection1, monitors for uses of clients’ personal information. When it detects a possible threat, you are alerted via text, phone call, email or on the LifeLock app, so you can react immediately if someone else used your identity2.
Getting alerts keeps you informed so you can move to protect your identity when an identity thief uses your personal information. If you are a victim of identity theft, LifeLock also provides professional identity restoration assistance, so you aren’t on your own cleaning up a thief’s mess, and up to $3 million worth of coverage depending on your plan3.
3. Freeze Your Credit Reports
As soon as you notice or are alerted to suspicious activity regarding your identity, freeze your credit report with each of the three major credit bureaus. This is free, can usually be easily done online, has no negative effect on your credit, and can be undone whenever you are ready.
Lenders check your credit when approving loans, which is often an identity thief’s goal: use your credit to get money, leaving you with the debt and ruined credit. Freezing your credit prevents lenders from accessing your credit reports, making difficult for anyone to open a line of credit in your name while the freeze is in place.
The Bottom Line
Strong, unique passwords are your first line of defense against identity theft, and being alert to any signs that someone has gotten past them is key to protecting yourself. You don’t have to take care of it all on your own.
Password managers and identity theft protection companies such as LifeLock can make it easier on you and ensure your peace of mind. If worse comes to worst, remain calm and react quickly to cut off the thieves’ access to your credit. These three steps combined can help keep your identity safe from threats.
1Based on an annual online consumer survey (n=1205) conducted for LifeLock (or NortonLifeLock) by MSI International, October 2021.
2LifeLock does not monitor all transactions at all businesses.
3$3 million coverage in our Ultimate Plus plan consists of up to $1 million each for Reimbursement, Expense Compensation, and Lawyers and Experts. Total coverage and category limits vary depending on plan chosen. Benefits under the Master Policy are issued and covered by United Specialty Insurance Company (State National Insurance Company, Inc. for NY State members). Policy terms, conditions and exclusions at: NortonLifelock.com/Legal.
4Special offer(s) may expire at any time at NortonLifeLock’s discretion. See important subscription, pricing and offer details for more information.
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