It feels like there is a new data breach every week across the country. We just had one in our own back yard. The VT Department of Labor just announced a data breach, so let’s talk about what you should do whether you are affected by this breach or not. This information is always good to know, the faster you act when it happens the faster you can protect your personal information.
The first step is to place a fraud alert on your three credit reports, this notifies companies to ask more questions when a request for new credit comes in. Place a free, one-year fraud alert by contacting one of the three credit bureaus. That company must tell the other two.
•Experian.com/help 888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742)
•TransUnion.com/credit-help 888-909-8872
•Equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services 800-685-1111
Make sure you are always looking at your credit reports throughout the year, just to make sure everything is being reported correctly. You are entitled toa free credit report from all three agencies at:
www.annualcreditreport.com
If you have looked at one credit report recently, then space out looking at one every 4 months then you will watch all three free throughout the year.
If you get notified your information has been compromised, go to www.Identitytheft.gov and fill out a report with the FTC. They will collect some of your information about the breach and create a Personal Recovery Plan with all the steps and contact information for all the companies you need to notify. If you create an account, they will walk you through each recovery step, update your plan as needed, track your progress, and pre-fill forms and letters for you.
As always, I am here to answer questions and walk you through these steps if you are a victim of a data breach.
Please contact me to set up an appointment,
megan.j.sather.ctr@mail.mil or 802-318-2507