Protect Your Identity
/As we step into the new year, the importance of safeguarding your identity remains more crucial than ever. With cybersecurity threats on the rise, it’s essential to take proactive measures to protect yourself from identity theft. The following are simple yet effective steps to help you secure your personal information and provide you with peace of mind as you navigate through 2025.
Start by reviewing your free credit reports. Federal law allows you to request a free copy of your credit report from each of the reporting agencies annually. The easiest way to obtain these is via the website www.annualcreditreport.com. Review each report for accounts or credit checks you do not recognize and report any errors right away.
Next, implement a credit freeze at each of the three main credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and Transunion. Check the Resources section of our website for links to each agency. Freezing your credit will prevent any new applications for credit in your name from being processed. If an identity thief tries to open a new credit card in your name, the application will immediately be declined. This includes any applications you may make unless you have temporarily lifted the credit freeze.
If you know someone will need to check your credit, let’s say to refinance your mortgage, you can use your unique login credentials and/or PIN (each bureau does things differently) to request a temporary lift of the freeze. When lifting a credit freeze, you’ll have an opportunity to tell the bureau how long to leave your report available. Be sure to store your login credentials and PINs someplace safe toavoid the hassle of needing to have these replaced at an inopportune time.
In addition to freezing your own credit, if you have minor children, consider freezing their credit as well. The process is a bit more cumbersome than freezing an adult’s credit, but well worth it to protect their identity and credit score.
Finally, protect your online accounts by using unique, secure passwords for each site. Cybersecurity experts recommend twelve-to-fifteen-character passwords to make it harder for bad actors to crack. In addition, if multi-factor authentication is offered, most cybersecurity experts recommend you enable this feature, which makes unauthorized access many times more difficult.
- Margaret Gooley, CFP®, CDFA®, Worley Erhart-Graves Financial Advisors
