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Fraud and identity warning: Protect your info in one simple step
What do these things have in common: A data breach, a credit card offer in the mail, a form at the doctor’s office and a Dark Web marketplace?
If you guessed anything to do with your identity, you nailed it. All are ways someone can get their hands on your Social Security number. With just a handful of digits, they can do a lot of harm.
In 2023 alone, 2.6 million people were victims of fraud, and around 1 million were targets of identity theft. All told, Americans lost $43 billion to identity fraud. The median reported loss is $500, but it’s often so much more — not only in dollars but in time and stress, too.
Here’s the scariest part
About 416,000 of those identity theft victims only found out something was wrong after they got an alert from their credit card company, tried to apply for a card or were denied a loan. By then, the damage was done.
Who’s a target? Sorry, it’s anyone. Some cybercrimes are large-scale — think ransomware targeting huge corporations — but in the wild world of fraud, everyone with a bank account, credit card or mailbox is a potential victim.
Take the massive data breach that just happened
National Public Data collects information from nonpublic sources without consent, according to a class-action lawsuit (paywall link). Hacker group USDoD allegedly broke into one of their unencrypted databases, making off with the records of a staggering 2.9 billion people.
The hackers put the entire database, which includes Social Security numbers, full names and addresses, free for the taking on the Dark Web.
Identity theft is increasing because of the sheer amount of information scammers have access to. That’s why I wanted to tell you about Incogni.
For a few bucks, anyone can buy a whole dossier of data on you — your voter records, email address, cellphone number, utility usage, purchase history, credit score, browsing habits, job history, medical info, your family members’ names and contact info, where you live, and how much you paid for your house. The list goes on and on.
There’s a way to shortcut the process
I’ll tell you from firsthand experience that you can remove records of yourself online one by one, but it’s a major pain and more frustrating than you’d believe. Remember, these sites want you to get lost in the confusing steps, to just throw your hands up and say, “Whatever.” I wasted 36 hours this way.
Then I found Incogni. Think of it as your personal privacy service. They find your info on people-search and data-broker sites, and then Incogni automatically submits removal requests on your behalf.
I regularly get emails from Incogni about its progress. So far, it’s removed my personal info from 257 of these creepy databases, saving me an estimated 197 hours.
Even better, they make sure my info stays off for the long haul by forcing data brokers to put my information on their suppression lists. This means they will never recollect any personal information that could be associated with me.
✅ Right now, while you’re thinking about it, give it a try. I negotiated a deal just for you: 60% off Incogni. Stop waiting and protect your identity. It’s worth too much, so do this right now.
Tags: Apple, family, hackers, privacy, ransomware, security
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