Was Your Social Security Number One of the Millions Just Leaked? Here's How To Find Out and How To Protect Yourself

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3:14As many as 272 million people just had their social security numbers leaked in a recent hack. And I am one of them. And you might be too. So today I'm going to explain how the heck this leak happened, how to know if your data is exposed and what to do to protect yourself. So first of all, this is one of the largest data breaches in history. How did this happen? To put this number in context, 272 million Americans were potentially affected by this leak, and the U.S. population is just over 345 million. So that means nearly four in five Americans were affected. So again, how in the world could a disaster at this scale happen?

3:57Well, it all started with a company most of us have probably never heard of, Jericho Pictures, Inc., which does business under the name National Public Data. This is a company that has been quietly collecting and scraping personal information on billions of people from various non-public sources. And no, you did not give your data to them. They just took it. On April 8th of this year, a cyber criminal group called USDOD posted something on a dark web forum that shook the cybersecurity world. But it didn't make mainstream news until months later. In this forum, they claim to have a database labeled National Public Data containing personal information on, wait for it, 2.9 billion people and was looking to sell it for$3.5 million.

4:45So what kind of information was leaked? It was social security numbers, full names, addresses from decades ago, and even details about your relatives. The full 2.9 billion figure includes not just folks from the U.S. that are victims in this attack, but also people in the U.K. and in Canada. One of the most crazy parts of this story is the fact that the company at the center of all of this, National Public Data, has reportedly done nothing, nothing to notify the victims. So as of now, there has been no warning, no heads up, nada, zero, zilch. The reason we're talking about this now is because a California resident named Christopher Hoffman got a notification from a theft protection service that his personal information had been leaked.

5:30So after doing some digging, Hoffman discovered the national public data breach and filed a class action lawsuit against the company. In the lawsuit, he's accusing the company of negligence, unjust enrichment and a slew of other charges. He's not just asking for money here, though. He is demanding that the national public data purge the exposed information, encrypt their data moving forward, and undergo regular cybersecurity assessments. If successful, this could set a new standard for how companies handle our data, or at the very least, how they should be held accountable when they drop the ball.

6:05Seems fairly reasonable to me, and honestly, like what they should have been doing all along. Obviously, this is really creepy. But beyond the sketchiness of it all, it could have catastrophic repercussions on your finances if the hackers decide to use or sell your data. So when I first heard about this hack, I went to npdbreach.com, a website that can tell you if your data was exposed in the hack. To use the site, you put in your name, your zip code, and then it will prompt you to either put in your social security number or your phone number. And even though this site is highly recommended by a ton of news sources like the LA Times, I didn't put my social security number in this site because I'm still a little freaked out about putting information out into the internet ether right now.

6:49So I opted to put my phone number in and that's how I learned that my information indeed was in the leak. So this brings me to the big question, one you've probably been asking yourself this entire time. Is this a big deal? If my social security number is stolen, what does that really mean for me? Well, with my social security number, these hackers could potentially open credit cards or apply for loans in my name. Or they could sell my social security number to identity thieves who want access to using credit in my name. Or they could sell my social security number to identity thieves who want to get access to that credit using my name.

7:24And just to state the obvious, yes, it totally scared me. It made me feel very vulnerable to find this out. It felt like what I imagine it feels like to have somebody break into your home, but on the internet, you can't change the locks. I knew, though, that it would start to make me feel better if I could take back some of this control and protect myself. So that's what I did. I froze my credit at the three big credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You can do this over the phone or online. Either way, it's really easy to do. I put the websites and the phone numbers for the bureaus in the episode notes, so you can do this too if you want.

7:59If you do freeze your credit, it's not the same thing as canceling a credit card. When you cancel a credit card, you have to get a whole new card and a credit card number. And if you would put any of your bills on autopay using that credit card, you have to update those accounts. Freezing your credit is totally different. When you freeze your credit, it essentially locks your credit report, preventing lenders, creditors or anyone else from accessing it. This means that even if somebody gets a hold of your personal information, they won't be able to open new accounts in your name because creditors won't approve any applications without being able to see your credit report.

8:34And if you're about to make a big purchase, like buying a house or a car, you can temporarily lift the freeze. This is called thawing your credit, and you can do this just as easily as freezing it. You simply contact the credit bureau where you place the freeze in the first place. You provide your PIN or your password and specify how long you want the freeze lifted, whether it's for a few days or for a specific creditor. Once that period is over, your credit will automatically get refrozen, keeping your personal information safe. Fake credit cards and loans are the obvious crimes here, but there is more.

9:09These bad guys could also use my social security number to get a job, which sounds kind of crazy and unlikely until you start thinking about gig work, like driving for an Uber or freelancing on Fiverr, which is actually pretty easy to set up. And if somebody does do that with my information, I could be the one subject to an IRS audit for unreported wages. And I am certainly not trying to hang out with the IRS here. So I did an employment data freeze on E-Verify. Identity thieves could also open utility accounts like a phone line or accounts for electricity or water in my name. So I did a utilities freeze with the National Consumer Telecom and Utilities Exchange, NCTUE.

9:48They could also use my social security number to open bank accounts in my name, which could be used for God knows what, money laundering, fraud, all sorts of stuff. So I did a bank security freeze through ChexSystems. That's Chex with an X. I linked those websites in the show notes too. I also did a payday loan freeze, which I did through LifeLock. Data breaches are becoming an all too common occurrence. There's been a nearly 500 % increase in cybercrime over the last year, but there is somewhat of a silver lining here. Cases like this force companies to rethink how they handle our personal information.

10:23If this class action lawsuit does indeed succeed, it could mean more stringent regulations and better protections for all of us. I know because this literally just happened to me how scary it feels to have your most important data stolen. But don't just be scared. Protect yourself. We can't just file this one away as another crazy thing that happened this year, we do have to take action to have our own backs. And I will say that while the NPD breach website that I've linked in the show notes is super helpful and is what helped me find out that my data was leaked here, if you don't see that your information was taken in the breach, I still wouldn't let my guard down.

11:01I'd still monitor my accounts more closely over the next few months. That means your bank accounts, your credit cards, but especially your credit reports. Again, this is the time to have your own back. For today's tip, you can take straight to the bank. If you see that there's activity on your credit report that is not yours, you will definitely want to freeze your credit. And then you'll also need to report that activity as fraud so that your credit score is not affected. To play it super safe, you should check your credit at all three major credit bureaus. Sometimes fraudulent activity shows up on one, but not the others, so you'll wanna have all three bases covered here.

11:37Money Rehab is a production of Money News Network. I'm your host, Nicole Laffin. Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan Lavoie. Our researcher is Emily Holmes. Do you need some money rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. So email us your money questions, moneyrehab at moneynewsnetwork.com to potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one-on-one intervention with me. And follow us on Instagram at moneynews and TikTok at moneynewsnetwork for exclusive video content. And lastly, thank you. No, seriously, thank you. Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make.