US Data Breach
It has been on the news recently, but there is a real possibility that the personal data of billions of US and UK citizens has been compromised and shared on the dark web. A simple internet search using “national data breach” as search terms will give you all the information one could hope for. A hacking group claims claims to have obtained this information, which includes names and Social Security numbers. The impact of this is yet to be seen but is is always better to be proactive in these situations.
The best advice is for consumers to not wait until their credit has been compromised to do something. Experts advise to “freeze” personal credit histories. This is a simple and free process but must be done on each of the three main credit bureaus: TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. Again there is ample information online on how to do this and the benefits.
Below are links to each credit bureau: