Anthem Breach Victims Reminded to Stay Diligent and Consider Credit Freeze

Nearly one year ago, one of the largest data breaches on record happened. It was the Anthem Blue Cross incident and it affected somewhere around 80 million people. Those affected should not think that with time, they are safe and can stop watching credit reports.

. Unlike credit card details, this information is not simply re-issued with new numbers. According to the Ponemon Institute, attacks on healthcare computer systems have risen 125% over the past five years. In the past year, there were breaches of the UCLA Health System (14 million), Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield (10 million), Premera Blue Cross (11 million), and the U.S. Government’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) which affected over 22 million. This is not an all-inclusive list, but information that is forever attached to the victims was involved in all of them, which could be social security numbers, addresses, birthdates, and healthcare details.foreverIn fact, anyone with information such as social security numbers, addresses, and names can use the information to commit crimes essentially

HELPFUL TIPS: A few steps should be taken to ensure you have done the most you possibly can to protect yourself from identity fraud or theft. These should not end after the credit monitoring period that is typically offered, but should be ongoing.

• Take advantage of the free annual credit report offered to each and every person with credit in the United States every year.

• Get credit reports for your children and monitor those with the same diligence in which you monitor your own. They may not have credit, but that doesn’t prevent others from using their information to get it. The FTC estimates that over 140,000 children become identity theft victims every year.

• Stagger the timeframes that you order these reports. Jim Stickley of Stickley on Security recommends getting one every four months from a different credit bureau.

• Monitor all healthcare benefit statements. If a doctor, procedure, or office visit is unfamiliar or incorrect, call the provider and insurance company right away.

If you were a victim of any of these, or another healthcare-related breach, consider putting a credit freeze or fraud alert on your credit. There are differences between them and the correct one may be different for everyone. First, file a police report and also report it to the FTC.

There are a few differences between a fraud alert and a credit freeze. A fraud alert allows creditors to get your credit report, but additional verification must be completed in order for them to do so. The verification criteria is set up with the credit bureaus when you put the alert on your file. In addition, if you have had your identity stolen, you can get an extended fraud alert put on your credit file. This entitles you to two free annual credit reports from each bureau and the agencies must remove your information from all of those pre-screened credit offers for five years, or unless you request it be done before. An extended fraud alert lasts for seven years.

A credit freeze prevents anyone from accessing your credit file. If you are planning to apply for any type of credit, you will need to contact the bureaus and ask them to remove the credit freeze. It can be done temporarily or permanently.

There may be charges for these services, so find out what they are and when they are applied, as well as how long it takes to either put the service in place or get it removed before you do it.

It is relatively easy to change a credit card number. It is incredibly difficult and time consuming to get your identity back. However, if it is stolen, someone could even leave you with a criminal record for which you did not sign up. Therefore, it’s worthwhile to take some extra steps to protect it.