Identity Theft?!

[Anonymous]

So I got a letter from the NY State Comptroller that someone had fraudulently attempted to collect unclaimed funds in my name. I spoke to the Comptroller's Office who explained the amount was small, only about $100 from a couple of old, closed accounts in my name (I used to live in NYC a few years ago before coming to DC). What alarmed me is that the person who tried to collect the funds used my correct social security number! (although he/she had the wrong address for me hence why the Comptroller's Office suspected fraud and reached out to me). Someone out there having and using my social security number, of course, freaked me out! I checked my 3 credit reports and there is nothing wrong with them as of right now (no new accounts, etc.). Other than this interaction with the Comptroller's Office, I have no information to suspect that my social security number has been used for any other fraudulent purposes. I should add that I was a federal employee for a couple of years so I assume the OPM hack got my info (and I even received one of those letters from OPM saying that my info "may have been compromised" in the hack).

What, if anything, should I do to protect myself going forward! Please help!

[Anonymous]

Sign up for credit monitoring services, put a fraud alert on your credit reports so things are scrutinized more closely if anyone tries to open an account in your name, check your accounts on a regular basis, use complicated passwords for any online transactions, and use a password vault like Dashlane to keep track of them. That's all you can really do. Are there any friends or relatives who might know your SSN? Many times identity theft occurs among family members and friends. Something like 20 million Feds were affected by the OPM data breach, and millions of folks were affected by the Anthem breach. The chances of hackers zeroing in on your personal information out of all those millions are pretty small. As my techie husband says, it's like hiding in plain sight. From what I understand, the OPM and Anthem hacks were done by the Chinese more for espionage purposes than for monetary gain.

[Anonymous]

Are credit monitoring services free? Any suggestions on which ones to use?

[Anonymous]

If you were affected by any of the big breaches, like OPM or Anthem, they are offering no-cost monitoring services. Information and instructions are being provided to all affected individuals. AllClearID is the service that Anthem is offering. I can't remember the name of the one that OPM is offering. Equifax also has one. All you have to do is sign up and they will provide ongoing monitoring and identity theft repair services.