The defense secretary’s driver’s license was for sale on the dark web. A listener asks: Why bother protecting yours?
Cameron in Houston figures identity protection is a lost cause when even Pete Hegseth’s driver’s license hit the dark web. Kim’s answer: Leaked data is only step one. Here’s where you still win.
🤯 WOW! A dark web market was selling over 170 million stolen ID documents, including 153 million U.S. and Canadian driver’s licenses. One of them belonged to the secretary of defense. If Pete Hegseth’s license isn’t safe, yours isn’t either. But that’s not the end of this story.
The Short Version: Leaked data isn’t stolen money. The theft happens later, when somebody uses it. Your job isn’t stopping the leak. It’s shrinking the time between “used” and “caught” from months to minutes. Steps below.
📖 Read time: 2 minutes
ChatGPT/Kim Komando
Your identity is always at risk, and once it’s gone, it’s gone. Take action now to protect yourself. Learn more at Coveron.com/Kim.
September 5, 2026
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Yesterday, I told you about the dark web market caught selling 170 million stolen ID documents, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s driver’s license. Cameron hit reply:
“Kim, there are so many data breaches it feels like white noise now. Since our data is out there all over, it seems to me that identity theft coverage like Coveron is a lost cause. I figure someday someone will grab mine.” — Cameron in Houston
Cameron, you’re half right. And the half you’re wrong about is where your money lives.
You’re right that your data is out there.
That market, Nexus, held 153 million U.S. and Canadian driver’s licenses and was growing by 400,000 documents a DAY when Brian Krebs blew the whistle. Even the man who runs the Pentagon couldn’t stay out of it. Assume your email, phone number and SSN are out there. That’s not paranoia. That’s math.
Here’s what the shrug misses. The FBI moved in, and Nexus went dark. The site is gone. The data isn’t. Every crook who bought a copy still has a copy.
⏱ Leaked isn’t stolen. Yet.
A leaked SSN is not a drained bank account. It’s an ingredient.
The crime happens later, when somebody uses it. Catch a fraudulent account the day it opens, and it’s a phone call. Catch it six months later, and it’s weeks of collections letters and dinged credit.
Identity fraud cost Americans $27.3 billion last year, and speed decides who pays.
🕵️ That race is where Coveron earns its keep
- It watches the places you can’t. Real-time dark web scans for your email, U.S. phone numbers and SSN.
- Alerts come with instructions. What leaked, plus the exact steps for that type of breach. Thank you for that.
- It knows when the leak is YOUR device. A malware alert means the crook is inside your computer, phone, tablet or more. Different crime scene, different fix.
- It watches your name. If your identity gets tied to a criminal record, you hear it from an alert. Not a traffic stop. Yeah, this happens. Someone gets arrested and uses your name.
So no, Cameron, it’s not a lost cause. Hegseth’s license only got pulled because somebody was looking. Put eyes on yours. Call it a found cause.
Do this today: Freeze your credit at all four bureaus (free). Here are the links you need.
Then turn on the watch. I used to have LifeLock, but it got so dang expensive. That’s when I did the research and found Coveron, formerly NordProtect.
My radio listeners get a great deal, and you can grab it, too. Coveron is 71% off and super affordable at only $4.36 a month.
✅ Get Coveron for 71% off. I wouldn’t use or recommend Coveron if it was a waste of money. We all work too hard for it. Your order is covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee. The only thing you can lose is the shrug.*
🎯 Send this to someone who deletes breach emails without reading them. Their shrug is exactly what the crooks are counting on.
