🎄 Give Yourself the Gift of Identity Protection
We are halfway to the holiday season, and many are still enjoying summer vacations. But scammers and hackers don’t take the summer off.
While we’re dreaming of iced coffee or maybe planning for the upcoming holiday season, here is a free gift you can give yourself right now: Peace of mind.
If scammers get your personal information (like name, birthday or social security number) they can:
Open a new credit card or take out a loan in your name
Rent apartments, buy phones or even apply for unemployment or tax refunds
Drain your time and energy trying to fix the mess.
Don’t Get Scammed!
❄️ Your Best Defense: Freeze Your Credit ❄️
Freezing your credit can stop identity thieves before they get started.
Think of a credit freeze like locking your doors. It prevents banks, lenders, apartment managers or anyone else from pulling your credit file. Scammers can’t open new accounts using your identity without getting a credit report.
Even better, freezing your credit is completely free to do! It doesn’t affect your current credit cards or loans and you can thaw your credit anytime you want to apply for something yourself. You can even schedule a credit thaw for a specific period of time and have it refreeze on your schedule!
❄️ How to Freeze Your Credit (All Online!)
There are three different credit bureaus and since you don’t know which banks or lenders use which, you’ll want to freeze all three.
1️⃣ Experian → www.experian.com/freeze
2️⃣ Equifax → www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services
3️⃣ TransUnion → www.transunion.com/credit-freeze
Login (or create an account if it’s your first time accessing the credit bureau). Make sure you use a valid email address and phone number and set up your account to text or email you to verify identity.
Other Ways to Protect Your Identity
🎯 Set up fraud alerts – This notifies you if someone tries to apply for credit using your info. It’s not as strong as a freeze, but still helpful.
🔐 Change Passwords – Stop reusing the same 2-3 passwords. Use strong, unique ones for every site.
📬 Opt out of pre-approved credit offers – Go to optoutprescreen.com to cut down on mail fraud.
📈 Monitor your credit regularly – Use tools like Credit Karma, your bank’s app, or AnnualCreditReport.com to keep an eye on your reports.
See my previous post about using a social birthday online to also help prevent identity theft.
Scammers don’t wait until December to go shopping. If they get your data, they will use it faster than Santa can say “Ho ho ho”!
So this Christmas in July, give yourself a gift that will last all seasons: protection and the power to say Not Today! to identity thieves.
🦄 Who is Suecurity?
Susan Richards aka Sue-curity
🌉 Background: Over 30 years in information technology with a passion for keeping people and data secure.
👑 Achievement: Hosts a weekly HITRUST Secrets discussion and nerds out about security topics.
☕ Quirk: An American patriot through and through, she still enjoys Irish breakfast tea in the mornings!
🎆 Did You Know? Christmas in July actually started in 1933 at the Keystone Camp in Brevard, NC. Miss Fannie Holt helped the girls at the summer camp stage a fun Christmas themed celebration with a Christmas tree, carols, gifts and even a visit from Santa Claus. In 1940, a romantic comedy called “Christmas in July” was released which made the phrase more widely known.
The Good News
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household - Ephesians 2:19
Be safe,
