What to Do If You Receive a Security Breach Letter

A security breach letter is a letter you’ll receive letting you know your personal information has been compromised. They company sending the letter should let you know what happened and what information was included in the breach. The most important thing to remember is that you are not a victim of identity theft at this point. Just because your information has been compromised, it doesn’t mean anything will ever happen. Many people have had their information included in a breach and never had their identity stolen. This article will help you know what to do if you receive a security breach letter.

The first thing you should do is find out exactly what information was included in the breach. Was it just your name and address? Was your Social Security number included? Were your account numbers and passwords compromised? This is the type of information you need to find out. How you handle the breach will depend on the type of information that was included.

If the account that was breached was a financial account like a checking account or investment account, you’ll need to at least change the account number and password. You may need to close the account out completely and open a new one. This will obviously give you the most security. Also when you select a new password for your account, make sure it’s not easy to guess. The best passwords are random combinations of letters and numbers.

If your SSN was included in the breach, you’ll want to contact the credit bureaus to have them place a fraud alert on your account. This alert will be good for 90 days. What this does is make it where a creditor will need to contact you before issuing any credit. Of course this only works if the creditor checks your report before approving the credit. You may also want to notify the DMV of the breach so that they can be aware. Whatever you do, don’t ever change your SSN. This will just create more problems than it’s worth.

The easiest thing you can do is to keep an eye on all of your statements and accounts. Make sure that all of the activity on the accounts is made by you or an approved person. You’ll also want to check your credit report periodically for fraudulent activity. If you notice anything questionable, contact the company immediately and notify the credit bureaus. You should be getting a copy of your credit report at least once a year. You may want to do this more often if your SSN has been breached.

Getting a security breach letter can be pretty scary, but you don’t have to worry just yet. By changing your account, notifying the proper organizations, and keeping an eye on your finances, you’ll be taking the proper steps to prevent the problem from getting worse. As mentioned earlier, as security breach often does not result in identity theft, so you should be fine.