EP 36: Avoiding Identity Theft When Your Data Is Exposed

On August 1st, 2024, a class action lawsuit was filed against Jerico Pictures, Inc. otherwise known as National Public Data, alleging a massive data breach that appears to impact nearly all Americans.

SpyCloud, a leader in helping businesses avoid cybercrime, reported that their team was able to access and analyze the data and confirmed that 277 million distinct social security numbers were included in the breach. Given the current population of the United States is about 337 million people, most individuals should assume their information was included.

When data breaches like this happen, what should everyday Americans do to reduce the risk that they become the victim of identity theft? In the past, most individuals were careful to avoid giving out their data and then simply hoped that their identity would not be compromised.

With the size and frequency of recent breaches, this is no longer a viable strategy. Individuals must assume that their data is available to identity thieves.

In this month’s podcast, we discuss the steps individuals should be taking now to actively reduce the risk of becoming a victim of identity theft in light of the National Public Data security breach.

If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself financially from identity thieves, we think you’ll enjoy this episode. Thanks for listening!

For more details on protecting yourself from identity theft, check out our blog post covering the same topic at https://pw-wm.com/learn/financial-planning/avoiding-identity-theft-when-your-data-is-exposed/