Identity Protection Checklist

Identity thieves can steal your money, open accounts, apply for new loans, open mobile contracts, rack up debt in your name, and plummet your credit score. Often there is little helpful recourse to recover any stolen money, and it can take up to a year of your time and energy to get your name cleared. Follow these best practices to help prevent identity theft from happening to you!

Create Government Accounts

1. IRS: https://www.irs.gov/ - See how much you owe the IRS, if anything, and your tax history

2. SSA (Social Security Administration): https://www.ssa.gov/site/signin/en/ - See what you’re eligible for in retirement/disability. If you’re a government worker like a teacher, because you get a pension, you won’t be eligible for Social Security unless you’ve worked for 10 years in a non-government role  

3. My Tax Illinois: https://mytax.illinois.gov/_/#4 - If you do not live in Illinois, your state should have an equivalent

4. IDES (Illinois Dept of Employment Security): https://www2.illinois.gov/ides/Pages/default.aspx - Someone could login as you and claim unemployment, for instance. If you do not live in Illinois, your state should have an equivalent

 Protect Your Credit

1. Freeze your credit at all the major credit bureaus. This prevents anyone from taking out a loan in your name. You can unfreeze/refreeze at any time if your credit needs to be checked for things like renting a place or applying for a mortgage. This will not freeze your credit score or your credit cards, it just prevents any unauthorized person from using it. You can still use your credit cards. REMEMBER TO SAVE YOUR PINS.

   Go to each of these websites and freeze: Experian, Equifax, TransUnion, ChexSystems, Innovis, NCTUE. I take screenshots of my freeze confirmations and PINs and save them in a folder I keep in Dropbox.

2. Regularly check your credit score with a service like Credit Karma to make sure nothing unexpected is opened in your name and there are no mistakes. If you download the app, it updates your score every week and gives you alerts to know if your credit has been run.

3. Get a copy of your credit report for free once a year from: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action  You want your report to read through and verify the information is correct and there is no suspicious or fraudulent accounts. I get my reports from all 3 credit bureaus at once (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion), and download them and keep them in a folder on Dropbox. Some people recommend getting just one of the reports every 4 months to monitor throughout the year instead.

Practice Good Password Security

1. You should always enable two-factor authentication on your accounts that offer it, like email, Facebook, and your bank accounts. Some will text or email you a code, or alternatively you can download an authenticator app from the app store in your iPhone. Microsoft and Google are well known.

2. Use a password keeper app, like the one that comes on the iPhone or download something like 1Password. This helps you create strong varied passwords as well as store them in a safe place rather than a notebook. Don’t use the same password for everything!

3. Change your Gmail password at least once a year

4. Lock any credit cards you aren't using but are keeping open to support your credit score (you can do this on your bank app)