Here’s how to protect yourself from becoming victim of identity theft

Nearly 7,900 Manatee County school employees had their personal financial information stolen recently.

Sad, but thousands of Manatee County teachers, aides and administrators are now ripe to become victims of identity theft crimes. Criminals likely will use their Social Security numbers and financial information to file false loan and credit card applications, as well as fraudulent tax returns seeking refunds.

Manatee school employees aren’t alone. The number of identity fraud victims increased by 16 percent in the last year, rising to 15.4 million U.S. consumers, according to Javelin Strategy and Research.

“I like to tell people that they should just assume their personal information is out there and accessible to the bad guys. With the slew of data breaches over the years, I recommend erring on the side of caution,” said Paige Harrison, the chief of identity theft education at LifeLock. “Do keep in mind that your information may have been exposed or can be in the future.”

That said, protecting yourself 100 percent from identity theft coming from security breaches isn’t possible these days.

“You can’t assume if you haven’t already been a victim of identity theft you won’t be in the future,” said Eva Velasquez, the CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit resource center building awareness and helping victims of cyber and identity theft.

“Consider the difference between losing your wallet and someone stealing your wallet. If you lose your wallet, there is ‘still’ a chance that you’ll get your wallet back,” Velasquez said. “But identity thieves are like someone stealing a wallet. They’ll eventually misuse your personal financial information.”

Here’s what you need to do to try to protect yourself:

Fraud alerts

Fraudsters with Social Security numbers use different addresses to advance their crimes and may take months to uncover.

“Contact credit bureaus to set up fraud alerts and consider placing a temporary freeze on credit,” Harrison said. “These steps won’t stop all potential fraud, but they can help. In many cases, victims rely on law enforcement and their financial institutions to help stop pending criminal activity and possibly help catch criminals.”

Request a fraud alert by contacting one of the big credit reporting agencies, and they will notify the other credit reporting agencies. Your file gets flagged that you are a possible data victim, and they will require creditors to verify more information before offering credit.

Fair Credit Reporting allows you to place an initial fraud alert that stays on your report for at least 90 days. On the 91^st day, the fraud alert may be renewed for another 90 days. These alerts can be renewed indefinitely. Victims of identify theft can request an extended fraud alert that’s in operation for seven years.

Freeze credit

Credit freezes are a great tool because, unlike fraud alerts, they don’t expire. Criminals are prevented from accessing your credit file, unless you authorize a bureau to release your file. If applying for a job or an apartment, you will have to authorize to lift the freeze. You can request a freeze be lifted for a specific time or creditor.

Order credit reports

“Monitor your credit reports,” Velasquez said. “It’s a quick way to see issues. Look for credit accounts that aren’t yours. Look for inquiries into your account that you didn’t request.”

Identity theft protection

Unlike the ease of replacing credit cards, your compromised Social Security number can’t easily be replaced – and it could be used by identity thieves years after it is stolen to file for a tax refund, take out a bank loan or obtain medical care, all in your name. Hiring an identity theft protection service can be smart and proactive.

This story was originally published April 24, 2017 at 12:13 PM with the headline "Here’s how to protect yourself from becoming victim of identity theft."