What to do if Your Social Security Number is Breached

Social security fraud can have serious implications on your credit and finances

If you know or believe your Social Security number has been exposed in a breach, you can take some additional precautions to prevent people from taking out loans, creating new accounts, or committing other types of fraud in your name:

• Get a copy of your credit report and review it for new or fraudulent information. Keep an eye on your credit score too. (Your bank may offer free alerts about your credit score or you could use an app.)

• Set a fraud alert on your credit report.

• Consider placing verbal phone passwords with your various financial institutions.

If your state allows it, set a PIN on your IRS tax filing account to help prevent tax refund fraud.