rustybugkiller
rustybugkiller Dork
2/26/21 12:41 p.m.

As the title says I got this warning from LifeLock   
I changed some passwords that may have been the culprit but today I received another warning. 
How much trouble am I in??

I use a different password for every site but way back when the internet began, I duplicated passwords and they weren't very lengthy. 
 

Lot of , do this do that, when I do a search but now I'm afraid of making it worse

Datsun310Guy
Datsun310Guy MegaDork
2/26/21 12:48 p.m.

My wife got this and called LL or the Dave Ramsey equal version and is changing passwords and has some lock on her credit now.  

Call them.  

slowride
slowride Dork
2/26/21 12:57 p.m.

My info is out there also. Initially there was someone trying to open credit cards in my name that ultimately got rejected by the CC company. After some investigation, they had an older login/password combo that I used pretty commonly about 15 years ago. So what I've done so far is locked my credit with the bureaus (Equifax et al) so that no new cards can be opened. This was sort of annoying because I had to make accounts at each bureau, but if I decide to get a new card or whatever, I can unlock it so it can be checked and then lock it back up. So it was worth it.

 

Then I switched over to using Lastpass to manage my passwords. I have the paid version now and it has a security dashboard thing that will tell you if passwords are duplicated (and I have a lot, but I spend some time every week changing them). And the last step, which I find highly annoying but seems to be necessary, is to turn on two-factor authentication everywhere that has it. 

 

There was some lookup tool I used a month or so ago (the "Combination of Many Breaches" thing) and determined that they had that same old password from 15 years ago. I sure wish I hadn't used that everywhere.

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
2/26/21 1:07 p.m.

Thanks to the absolutely enormous Experian breach, you should assume that everyone's data has been compromised. Lock your credit, kids.

rustybugkiller
rustybugkiller Dork
2/26/21 1:31 p.m.

Will locking your CC have any affect on getting a credit check from an employer for a job??

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
2/26/21 1:58 p.m.

I think you can still pull a credit report, you just can't open any new lines of credit. IIRC.

Note that there's a significant difference between having your credit card information stolen and your actual credit information. The former is the responsibility of the bank, who punt it down to the vendors who accept the cards. That's why vendors have all sorts of verification systems in place and why banks are constantly doing behavioral analysis on behavior. It's a pain to have to deal with but it's really nothing more than inconvenient.

Since nobody is responsible if some random person steals your identity and borrows a pile of money in your name - nobody is paying attention. If this does happen, you're in for a world of hurt.

Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón)
Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
2/26/21 2:59 p.m.

I'll echo and add to these points:

Lock your credit with the different bureaus. This doesn't affect "soft" hits like employment background checks.
Use a password manager and make a password as long and ridiculous as you can: F94,bjtgo4ik&%ldj5ld.>p05kGlGww*dlgkWWsdck7982!  is a good example of what you should be shooting for. 
Make sure your password recovery options (especially security questions) are up to date and aren't easily figured out. Common questions like "What was your first pet?" should never be your first pet. At least mentally shift the answer to something like pet=favorite tire brand and use your favorite tire brand to answer the question, expand the answer by using the pet's name plus the year it died and what color it was (creates a password, in effect), or develop a trick of your own.
Use two factor authentication.
You get a free credit report every year. Use it.

Driven5
Driven5 UltraDork
2/26/21 4:13 p.m.

Vague and ominous warnings use fear to control peoples thoughts and actions.

dean1484
dean1484 GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
2/26/21 4:27 p.m.

Yep Credit lock is the thing you need to do.

 

 

rustybugkiller
rustybugkiller Dork
2/26/21 10:35 p.m.

Thanks everyone!

Credit freeze done. Changing passwords as well.

You'll need to log in to post.

Our Preferred Partners
1T4fJpRcRCBRdhgoOYhafyq86Vt51Fd8ltlJ0cYdBTLiplsm9IAbaYEd1frd8N9D