How to Protect You and Your Family After a Data Breach
Data breaches make you and your family vulnerable to identify theft and fraudulent financial activity. The DC Health Link data breach of March 2023 affected both Auxilio’s staff and several of our clients. There have been numerous reports of fraudulent accounts started in employee’s, their spouses and their children’s names. This includes credit card, bank, cash app/venmo/paypal accounts and even subscription services like Sirius XM. Data breaches like this one are becoming more common. Often the company or platform that experienced the breach will offer to provide credit monitoring and fraud/theft insurance for a period of time - often several years as DC Healthlink did in this case.
Credit Freeze
If you have been part of a data breach, Auxilio strongly recommends that you sign up for credit monitoring services, especially if provided for free by the group that experienced the breach. Freezing your credit with all 3 agencies (Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian) is the surest option to avoid your credit being used without your knowledge. Unlike a credit lock where credit agencies are required to get your permission to allow your credit to be pulled for account approval, a freeze on your credit means that companies are not granted access. This means no one can open a new account in your name - not even you! - unless you unfreeze it. This helpful article gives advice on how to freeze and unfreeze your credit as needed.
Prevent Bank Accounts from Being Opened
It is important to note that freezing your credit and signing up for the credit monitoring will not tell you when bank accounts have been opened in your (or a spouse’s or child’s) name. Most banks do not run a credit check when opening accounts.
To prevent bank accounts from being opened in your name, you can place a security freeze through Chexsystems. Here is the list of banks that do not use Chexsystems.
Since children do not yet have a credit file, freezing a child’s credit requires mailing letters to each agency. Download a letter template from the websites of the credit agencies.
Auxilio is not an expert on identity theft issues or credit fraud but many of our staff have experienced it themselves. As we gathered these helpful tips and resources for our team, we thought to share them in case they can be helpful to others. We pray you never experience a data breach or fraudulent activity on your credit, and if you do, we trust God to give you all the grace and wisdom needed to take steps to protect yourself and untangle any issues.