How to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft and Fraud

In today's digital age, safeguarding your personal information is more crucial than ever. With identity theft and fraud on the rise, it's imperative to take proactive steps to protect yourself. Below, we've outlined some essential methods to shield yourself against potential threats.

Get a Copy of your Credit Report

Verifying the accuracy of the information on your credit report is key to identifying any fraudulent activity. You are entitled to order a free copy of your credit report from the major three credit reporting agencies every 12 months. AnnualCreditReport.com is the only government authorized website to provide these reports for free.

Freeze your Credit

You can freeze your credit and you/others won’t be able to apply for credit with your information without providing your secret PIN (given at time of freezing) or without lifting the freeze. You will want to do this at all three agencies (Equifax, Transunion, Experian). There is a small fee for doing this, however Equifax just waived their fee for the next 30 days. This, however, can be burdensome, especially if you move around frequently and need to apply for new utility accounts.

Fraud Alert

You can alert the credit agencies that your information has been compromised. This will require creditors to contact you via your provided information before issuing any new credit accounts. This alert is only valid for 90 days unless you have documentation that you are a victim of identity theft.

Credit Monitoring

Many banks, credit cards, and other providers allow access to your credit score on a monthly basis. Monitoring this information is one of the lower hassle methods in identity theft prevention and fraudulent activity.

Re-affirm your Accounts’ Access

Make sure you still control all of your pertinent accounts with strong passwords (Social Security, IRS, Bank/Credit/Investment accounts) and always use all two-factor authentication and other security measures, when available.

Citrine Capital takes every precautionary measure to protect our clients' information. Should we receive any unusual communications regarding your accounts, we will contact you first to confirm and investigate further.