Keep your information protected

You could be a victim of a data breach or a credit scam without even knowing it.

Scammers know what is going on in the world, and they play off it.

In 2017, Equifax had a data breach; since then, other large companies including Facebook, Marriott and Target have also dealt with company information being hacked.

Jeremy Johnson, the marketing manager from the Better Business Bureau said, ” Unfortunately, in this and day and age, being part of a data breach or companies’ information being hacked, there is a high percentage that it could have happened to you. ”

Some people might not know that their information has been breached because they haven’t noticed anything different.

It is up to you to make sure that your information is protected.

” If you think they have some of your debit card information, credit card information, whatever information you think they might have, you have the right to put fraud alerts out, ” Johnson said. ” You can call your bank and call your credit card companies. It is some work, it is an inconvenience, but it is up to you in the way to make sure that your information is protected. ”

It is not just up to us to make sure that our own information is protected; we need to ensure our children’s protection, too.

Johnson said, ” Any time a person has a Social Security number or anything like that, their information can be breached. We do see scammers sliding in and taking information undetected. A lot of times, children’s information is taken because they have a clean credit score and no one is really monitoring that. ”

Your child’s information could be breached and you wouldn’t even know it until it’s time to send them off to college.

When it’s time to get them an apartment or a car, you could find that you can’t because their credit has been hacked.

A fairly recent change has made it possible to make sure this doesn’t happen to you.

” There is a state law that allows you to freeze your credit. That went into effect last year, ” Johnson said. ” It uses to cost money but now it is totally free. You can contact any of the credit bureaus and have your credit frozen. ”

To freeze your credit, you must call all three credit reporting agency and when it’s time to unfreeze your credit, that can be done within an hour.

Equifax is one of the credit bureaus that was breached, but according to the BBB, this is still the best way to protect yourself.

If you were part of the Equifax breach you can file a claim by clicking here or by calling the settlement administrator at 1-833-759-2982.