credit freeze – Network Securitas

August 16, 2016

SSA: Ixnay on txt msg reqmnt 4 e-acct, sry

This post was originally published on this siteThe U.S. Social Security Administration says it is reversing a newly enacted policy that required a cell phone number from all Americans who wished to manage their retirement benefits at ssa.gov. The move comes after a policy rollout marred by technical difficulties and criticism that the new requirement did little to prevent identity thieves from siphoning benefits from Americans who hadn’t yet created accounts at ssa.gov for themselves. In an announcement last month, the SSA said all new and existing ‘my Social Security’ account holders would need to provide a cell phone number. The SSA said […]

August 23, 2016

A Life or Death Case of Identity Theft?

This post was originally published on this siteIdentity thieves have perfected a scam in which they impersonate existing customers at retail mobile phone stores, pay a small cash deposit on pricey new phones, and then charge the rest to the victim’s account. In most cases, switching on the new phones causes the victim account owner’s phone(s) to go dead. This is the story of a Pennsylvania man who allegedly died of a heart attack because his wife’s phone was switched off by ID thieves and she was temporarily unable to call for help. On Feb. 20, 2016, James William Schwartz, 84, was […]

September 11, 2017

The Equifax Breach: What You Should Know

This post was originally published on this siteIt remains unclear whether those responsible for stealing Social Security numbers and other data on as many as 143 million Americans from big-three credit bureau Equifax intend to sell this data to identity thieves. But if ever there was a reminder that you — the consumer — are ultimately responsible for protecting your financial future, this is it. Here’s what you need to know and what you should do in response to this unprecedented breach. Some of the Q&As below were originally published in a 2015 story, How I Learned to Stop Worrying […]

September 21, 2017

Experian Site Can Give Anyone Your Credit Freeze PIN

This post was originally published on this siteAn alert reader recently pointed my attention to a free online service offered big-three credit bureau Experian that allows anyone to request the personal identification number (PIN) needed to unlock a consumer credit file that was previously frozen at Experian. Experian’s page for retrieving someone’s credit freeze PIN requires little more information than has already been leaked by big-three bureau Equifax and a myriad other breaches. The first hurdle for instantly revealing anyone’s freeze PIN is to provide the person’s name, address, date of birth and Social Security number (all data that has been […]