I recently have found myself in a better financial position and am focused on rebuilding my credit score after a few years of tought financial trouble. Was checking credit wise to find what all I owe and what’s in collections and saw back in 2024 not only was my email almost jeopardized through Robin Hood, my ssn also got released onto the dark web along with old address information. Currently my credit score is 460 so I highly doubt anyone will use it atm, they probably can’t cause I can’t even get a simple personal loan. But obviously this could an issue when I rebuild my credit score. What options do I have to prevent identity theft and how do I go about it? Credit freeze isn’t exactly an option rn because I am actively working each week on paying on past due accounts and negotiations on collections debt.
Just found out my ssn was found on the dark web in 2024? What next?
byu/Tall-Log-1535 inpersonalfinance
Posted by Tall-Log-1535
5 Comments
Credit freeze actually won’t stop you from paying off existing debts or negotiating with collectors – those companies already have your info. You can still unfreeze temporarily when you need to apply for new credit later
Definitely set up fraud alerts with all three bureaus and monitor your credit religiously. Also check if you qualify for free identity monitoring through whatever company got breached
I personally have a credit freeze active with the big 3 most of the time unless I know it would impact me.
Otherwise with how many times that information has already appeared in large scale data breaches, in my mind it’s already effectively public information.
FWIW, it’s highly unlikely that your SSN/etc. and other PII *aren’t* floating around on the dark web. They may as well be telling you that water is wet.
Monitor your stuff, and freeze your credit.
Guess what, almost everyone’s information like that is on the dark web after all the major hacks, it’s basically meaningless at that point.
Credit Freeze prevents taking out more debt / loans / credit, not paying on accounts you already have open.
Should just do all the normal stuff you should be doing anyway:
Setup alerts for large transactions, regularly review your balance and transaction log, contact the bank immediately if something is suspicious. You can freeze your credit at all three credit bureaus as well if you want.
Dont answer weird phone calls and text messages asking you for personal information ,PINs, Passcodes, etc… even if you think it might be from your financial institution, call them using the number on the back of your cards / account statements directly and ask if they reached out to you.
As has already been recommended, place a freeze on your credit with Transunion, Equifax, and Experion. It’s simple to do.
If you own property, your county recorder office may offer a mechanism to alert you in the event someone attempts to change your deed or place a lien on your property. These mechanisms go by different names. It will not stop a change from being recorded, but it will alert you so that you can quickly take action against the attempted fraud.