We occasionally receive panic calls from clients whose computers have been breached.
If this has happened to you, you will want to know what to do to protect yourself in such a circumstance.
Depending upon your understanding of the information that was hacked, it would be wise to do the following:
- Change all of your passwords;
- Call the issuers of your credit cards in order to put a hold on or change your credit cards;
- Call your bank or financial institution, speak to the security officer, advise him/her of what happened and ask him what steps should be taken with your accounts;
- Contact Equifax (1-800-465-7166) and TransUnion (1-800-663-9980) in order to put a credit freeze on your accounts in order that no new loans or credit cards may be issued to a fraudster using your personal information;
- File a police report with the local authorities;
- If you have credit card or other type of credit insurance or insurance for data breaches, contact your insurance company and follow their instructions;
- For a reasonable period of time after the breach, check constantly your various accounts to determine whether any unauthorized charges have been placed on your accounts and if so, immediately notify the relevant financial institutions.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.