IDScan.net and Freezing Your Credit

A company responsible for maintaining identify verification information for licenses and other important government documents has recently been breached, and 153 million records have been seen offered for sale on the dark web. This information provides additional tools for criminal organizations to take over your accounts or apply for credit in your name.

We have updated our Recognizing and Responding to Elder Fraud training module to include an article on freezing your credit. This article is provided by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). You can find article by starting at the Menu in the training module, then clicking Learning and Resources, click the Special Topics button, the click the Articles tab. You will then see the link to the FTC article on Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts as shown in the image above.

While you may be tempted to use one of the many services out there to freeze your credit for you, remember that you will have to give whichever service you choose your social security number and other personal details in order for them to contact the three credit bureaus for you. They become another organization that has those personal details about you, and they are another target for a data breach.

It is not hard to call the three credit bureaus and freeze your credit. The FTC article contains a link to the contact information for all three bureaus. We also provide a link to the three credit bureaus in our Elder Fraud Tip Sheet, which you can find on the Menu in our training module. Have a family member or trusted friend help you if you need assistance.