Anthem Data Breach

February 2015

With the recent news of the data breach into Anthem’s records, I thought this would be an opportune time to remind people of some steps they can take to protect themselves from identity thief.

1) Review your credit card accounts often for unauthorized charges;

2) Check your credit reports to see if any new accounts have been opened in your name. You can get free copies of your report once a year at www.annualcreditreport.com;

3) Place a security freeze to prevent your credit report from being shared with potential new creditors. If your files are frozen, a thief probably can't open any new accounts in your name. However, it can make your life difficult if you try to obtain additional credit.

4) Sign up with a credit monitoring agency to have your accounts constantly watched. Plans can vary widely in cost, so please consider what services you need in regard to the cost.  It takes about 30-60 minutes to sign up depending on how much information you want to include.

I hope you find these suggestions useful. As I've mentioned previously, as your financial advisor, I'm not only here to help you with your investments, but to help with anything related to your financial situation whether that is protecting against identity theft, a car purchase, any type of loans you're considering, etc. I hope you remember to call me whenever you are in the process of something that affects your finances and I can help provide insight, things to consider or questions to ask those companies you're working with.