Is My Identity Stolen? Check It Out Before It’s Too Late

Perhaps you’ve heard people around you talk about their experiences with identity theft, and it makes you wonder: Is my identity also stolen?

Data breaches, phishing emails, shoulder surfing and more, there are various ways that con artists can steal others’ identity in daily life. So it’s no surprise that you’re wondering if you’re unknowingly a victim of ID theft. Indeed, identity theft is scary, but you can always protect yourself by being vigilant in your personal life and seeking professional ID protection before things can ever happen to you.

Signs that someone is using your identity

Once your personal information falls into the wrong hands, they can fake your identity and ruin your financial life, leaving you with a pile of mess to deal with. But if you can notice the red flags as below early, you may reduce the trouble caused by identity theft.

• Unfamiliar accounts opened under your name on your credit reports
• Significant drop in credit score
• An unusually high number of suspicious phone calls or messages received from various social media platforms
• Received charges for products or services that you did not purchase
• Got calls from debt collectors about loans you didn’t applied
• Being notified that more than one tax return has been filed in your name
• Unable to log in or lost access to your social media or email accounts.They might be taken over by frauds
• Unexplained withdrawals from bank accounts
• Your healthcare benefits have been tapped by someone other than you

How to check for ID theft & get ID protection

To protect identity, there is something we can do, such as regularly check your bank statements for fraudulent activities and credit reports to check if your SSN is being used.
But, there is something we find hard to do, like searching our personal data on the dark web or monitor our credit around the clock. Therefore, we may need to seek help from professional privacy protection services.

1. Detect identity leaks with Aura

Because of the growing cyberattacks, data breach has become one of the main causes of identity theft. The fraudsters can easily find your sensitive information such as phone number, email or bank account from the dark web and commit ID theft.

To check if your data is exposed, you can run a free dark web scan with Aura. Aura is an ID theft protection service that provides an all-in-one intelligent safety solution for people to avoid Identity theft. It can not only help you run a deep scan on the dark web but also provide other services of proactive protection to keep you away from digital threats.

2. Keep your identity safe with Identity Guard

If you find your identity information is temporarily safe, you should not take it lightly. ID theft can happen the next day, or even in the next hour. To keep your identity always safe, you can try Identity Guard, an ID protection service with award-winning plans.

Identity Guard provides a reliable identity fraud solution in solid steps: once you select your protection plan, it will set up the identity monitoring for you. Then you’ll be kept updated with its mobile app and get alerts to suspicious activity. Identity Guard can also help you recover your identity when needed.

3. Get ID theft protection with LifeLock

Back by Norton, LifeLock is also a reputable service in the ID protection field. It has almost what you need to safeguard your identity: identity threat scam, monitoring and alerts, identity restoration and also a $1 million coverage for lawyers and experts. You don’t need to feel vulnerable if you have LifeLock protect your identity and finance.

What you can do in daily life to protect your identity data

Apart from seeking professional help, there is also something small you can do in daily life to protect yourself and minimize the risk of identity theft.

• Use strong passwords. Single combination of passwords in your accounts can greatly increase the risk of account theft. You can try some password managers like LastPass to keep your passwords safe.
• Don’t click any link in suspicious emails. If the link contains malwares, it could control your device and get all your personal info.
• Be careful of using public Wi-Fi. Public Wi-Fi is actually easy for hackers to intercept your private data through the Network transmission.
• Try using a VPN. A VPN like NordVPN and Surfshark can reroute and encrypt your traffic so no one can track your network data.
• Be mindful of what you post on social media sites. Sensitive info like addresses or bank accounts accidentally disclosed in a photo or text message could make you a victim without even realizing it.

 _{*Featured image by Anna Nekrashevich}

By Evie Gan

Evie is a tech-writer and content writer passionate about exploring new concepts and technologies. Her articles for Super Easy cover a wide range of topics related to tech and daily life hacks.

Prior to joining Super Easy, Evie majored in English for science and technology at university. After graduation, she worked in foreign trade sales for a major household appliance company where she gained first-hand experience learning about manufacturing engineering, evaluating products, and interacting daily with staff about the latest tech.

In her free time, Evie enjoys drawing, traveling, basketball, Pilates, music, playing guitar, and learning new languages (Japanese at JLPT N2 level).

As a content writer, she leverages her diverse interests and web research skills to create articles that benefit readers. By sharing technology tips and how-to guides, Evie helps people improve their daily routines and get the most out of their devices.

Her goal is to use her knowledge and experience to craft informative, engaging content for the Super Easy audience.

View all of Evie Gan's posts.