George Feldman McDonald, PLLC is an aggressive and effective advocate for consumers who have been victims of a data breach and GFM litigates data breach cases throughout the United States. If you receive a notice of data breach informing you that your personal private information (whether personal and/or financial) has been compromised, call GFM and we will evaluate your potential claims and help you to protect yourself. In the event you are a victim of a data breach, there are things that you can do to protect yourself from further harm:
(1) Be Aware – retain all documents (including the notice of the data breach) and pay attention to any mail you receive that is unusual or unfamiliar to you, such as notice from the IRS regarding your taxes and bills from unknown lenders;
(2) Set a Fraud Alert – fraud alerts warn lenders that you may have been a fraud victim. You can ask Experian, TransUnion or Equifax to add a fraud alert to your credit report in order to warn lenders that you may be a fraud victim. Whatever credit bureau you contact will notify the other two and alerts will be added to your credit reports with those bureaus as well. Fraud alerts will stay on your credit report for 90 days and can be renewed once they expire;
(3) Monitor Your Financial Accounts – monitor your online banking and other financial accounts, and set up any alert features available to you if you have not already done so. This can help you save time and keep you notified of unusual events when they happen;
(4) Monitor Your Credit Reports – you have the right to check your credit report for free every 12 months at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action and Experian free credit report members can check their Experian credit report every 30 days at https://www.experian.com/consumer-products/free-credit-report.html;
(5) Lock or Freeze Your Credit File – you can add a security freeze, which is available to you for free at https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html and will prevent potential lenders from accessing your credit report. Your credit will only be available to potential lenders if you unfreeze your accounts;
(6) Change Your Passwords – the more difficult you make your passwords, the less likely it is that hackers will be able to hack your accounts. It is also helpful for you to obtain a password manager to help you keep track of your passwords, like mSecure (https://www.msecure.com/) or LastPass (https://www.lastpass.com/products/business); and
(7) Beware of Phishing Scams – armed with your personal e-mail addresses and phone numbers, fraudsters can target you with e-mails, phone calls and text messages aimed at tricking you into divulging more personal information, or even collecting money. Fraudsters may pose as officials of financial institutions or federal government agencies. NEVER provide personal information in response to e-mails, texts or phone calls, especially account numbers, credit card numbers and other financial information. If you get an e-mail, text or phone call asking you to do so, you should decline and then directly contact the company purporting to request your information by looking up the company’s contact information (never trust phone numbers or links that are included in e-mails or texts, as they may be fake and designed to help the fraudsters get your personal information). When in doubt, do not disclose any of your personal or financial information.
If you think you have been a victim of a data breach, GFM’s lawyers are here to help protect your rights. https://www.4-justice.com/
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