Identity Theft Prevention: Essential Strategies and Tools

To prevent identity theft, individuals should freeze their credit, use password managers, enable multi-factor authentication, and regularly review credit reports.

### Safeguarding Against Identity Theft: Essential Strategies for Cybersecurity
* 🔒 "In today's cybersecurity landscape, it's not a matter of **if your private information will be compromised**, but **when it will happen** and **how prepared you are for it**."
* 🛡 Freezing your credit is a crucial step to **prevent identity theft**, ensuring that even if someone has your social security number, they cannot **open new credit lines without your permission**.
* 💻 Utilizing a password manager can significantly enhance your cybersecurity, allowing you to **maintain unique, complex passwords for each account** without the hassle of remembering them all.
* 🔑 Implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all financial accounts adds an **extra layer of security**, making it **more difficult for unauthorized users to access your information**.
* 📄 Regularly reviewing your credit report through annualcreditreport.com helps you **identify any unfamiliar accounts or activities**, allowing you to **act swiftly against potential fraud**.
* 📊 With the increasing compromise of social security numbers, it’s vital to take **proactive measures**, such as obtaining an **IRS pin**, to protect against **tax fraud**.
* ⚠ As cyber threats evolve, particularly with the rise of artificial intelligence, **staying vigilant and proactive** in your cybersecurity practices is essential to **safeguard your personal information**.

[Music] This next question, uh, this is from a friend of the show. We know Brian really, really well, uh, and this is a great question. Brian with a Y asks, What can we all do to prevent identity theft? Uh, I know freezing our credit is a thing. Uh, I'm not sure if you've done this before. Thanks for your input here. Uh, in the world of cybersecurity in which we live, it's not, we've had, uh, forensic consultants tell us before, it's not a matter of if your private information will be compromised, it's a matter of when will it happen and how prepared were you for it. So, when we think about protecting ourselves and risk management, what do you do personally? What are some of the things that you do, and what do we recommend for clients, and how can people make sure they keep themselves as safe as possible? By the way, this qualifies as a current event that Brian is bringing to everybody's attention. You know, there is word on the street now that, um, cyber

criminals have actually obtained all the social security numbers of the entire citizen base. Did you know this? I mean, this is one of our topics that we're likely covering coming up. Yeah, it's bad. Um, so this has been disclosed out there, but I think everybody, based upon how many I can count, typically it's three to five every year, whether it's me, whether it's my wife, of disclosures of um, breaches or all kind of identity things that have been shared out there and creating vulnerability. So let me go ahead and just break it open for you um. There are so many more criminals trying to use your social security number um to to obtain credit than likely you are. So without a doubt, freeze your credit. I mean, this is, it's gotten so easy, by the way, whenever you have to use your credit, because you need to understand what freezing your credit means, is that even though somebody might have your social security number, they can't open a line of credit um um using your social security number because it

is on lockdown. The only way you can unlock it is you reach out to the three Credit Agencies and you unfreeze it. The good news is it's instantaneous, meaning I can actually be on the phone, ask the credit company, Hey, which Bureau are you pulling the data from? They say Equifax. I'd be like, Okay, perfect. I'll log into Equifax, unfreeze my credit. They say, and even one of them, I can't remember which one, says, Hey, do you want to just keep this UNF Frozen for two days or, you know, in case you're shopping a mortgage? But for me, I've been on the phone, and then I unfreeze it once I find out which credit bureau they're going, and then as soon as they tell me, Yeah, we pulled it. It's all good. And then I'm like, I lock it right back down. So that's the first thing, Bri. Go out there and consider freezing your credit. Make sure you keep up with all the user ID and passwords, 'cause I

don't want you being upset with us after you do this if you're not keeping up with how to get into unfreeze those accounts for future purchases. Hey, what's a great way to keep up with like user IDs and passwords? Seems like that's something too that might be like a cybersecurity issue, right? And that's the next thing is that we love password services, you know, where you're actually, you know, using some type of centralized password management where every website you go onto is a unique website, you know, a unique login, user password, 12, 16, and beyond digits with, you know, multiple numerals, symbols, all kind of other crazy things. You know, I went kicking and screaming into this, and it was probably around 2019 that I got really serious about cybersecurity and have used a password manager ever since. And I got to tell you, my life is better. The other thing that I think you've got to make sure is that even if somebody has your password, how do you make it benign or make it where

it doesn't actually hurt you. Is it that you got to put multi-factor on every financial account that you have? Love it. Um, you know, the easy way to do that is just to have a text come to you. But I even like some, like I use Google Authenticator on a lot of stuff. You know, a lot of your password managers will also have authenticator apps. But it's um, it's just a great way. And we can do more content on this, but that's a great kind of summary of some of the options people. I heard you say something interesting. Even though you use a password manager, the recommendation is still to have secure passwords, even if you're using a password manager. One of the benefits of doing that is it allows you to have the 12 or 16 digit nonlinear numeric symbol, all that stuff. Even if you're using a password manager, you should still make sure you have super secure passwords, and it allows you to have more secure passwords inside the password manager, right? Yep. Uh, so you said password manager, you said secure.

password. You said MFA. You said credit freeze. I got one more. I can't wait to hear what it is. No, it's because Social Security numbers are now getting more and more, you know, compromised. I do think that we're going, and this is part I will have to prepare and research another step into when we do a full show on this, is how to protect your Social Security number so people don't file taxes on your behalf. And, you know, you can get a prepare, you can get an ID, you can get a pin with the IRS and other things. There's some proactive steps you can do, but I think that is going to be a big vulnerability that is these social security numbers start getting sold out there on the dark side of things that you need to be protected. The only the last thing that I'll throw on top of that, if you have your credit report frozen, that should be the thing that like locks everything down. But you are also entitled to free credit reports every year. You can go to

annualcreditreport.com, and you can go pull your credit report and make sure everything you see on there is something that you recognize. And if you pull your credit report and you see an account or a name or something on there that you do not recognize, you can obviously call them and figure out what's going on there. One of the best ways to make sure that you're protecting yourself is to be offensive, is to be on the offense, to make sure you're looking at your stuff, reviewing to make sure there's nothing the fairest going on out there that you do not know about. And if you are the person that has five different variations of one password and you think you're smart, guys, you got to get better than that 'cause they're getting better and better. I think that there's also going to be more scams coming with the rise of artificial intelligence. I run the payroll still, the most expensive payroll operator in the world, and I'm amazed at how many bogus payroll

update requests I get every month, and I'm like, you scam artists have to know that I can walk down the hall. Yes, we're getting big with over 40 employees, but I know who everybody is, and I can go walk down the hall or slack somebody and say, What's going on? So, um, but be aware that these things I think are going to get worse, not better, so plan accordingly.

What Are the Best Ways to Protect Your Identity from Thieves?

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Freezing your credit is a crucial step in preventing identity theft, as it blocks criminals from opening lines of credit using your social security number.

With the increasing frequency of data breaches, it's essential to be proactive and prepared for potential compromises of your private information.

Cybercriminals have been reported to obtain social security numbers of entire citizen bases, making it even more important to take protective measures.

Freezing your credit is a quick process, and you can unfreeze it instantly by contacting the credit bureau.

It's important to keep track of user IDs and passwords for future unfreezing.

Using a centralized password manager with unique logins and strong passwords can enhance your cybersecurity.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is essential for securing financial accounts, with options like text messages and authenticator apps.

Even with a password manager, it's important to use secure passwords to enable stronger protection.

Social Security numbers are increasingly compromised, making it crucial to take proactive steps for protection, such as getting an ID or PIN from the IRS and freezing credit reports for added security.

Regularly check your credit report at annualcreditreport.

Being proactive and reviewing your information can help you catch any fraudulent activity.

It's important to use unique passwords and stay vigilant, as scams are likely to increase with the rise of artificial intelligence.

The speaker receives monthly update requests and is frustrated by them, knowing they can easily communicate with employees in person or through Slack.

Despite the company's growth to over 40 employees, the speaker is aware of everyone's role.

They anticipate that the frequency of these requests will increase in the future and advise others to plan accordingly.