How to protect yourself from Identity Theft

Updated for 2026

Identity theft stopped being a “what if” a long time ago. Back in 2017, Equifax (one of the big three credit bureaus) leaked the personal information of roughly 147 million people, about half the country. Social security numbers, addresses, former names, mortgages, car loans, credit cards, balances. The stuff that defines you financially. That data never came back, and it has been quietly circulating among criminals ever since.

So I don’t treat identity theft as a risk to avoid. I treat it as a condition to manage. The good news: the tools have gotten a lot better, and the single most important protection is now completely free. Here is exactly what I do to protect my family, and what I’d tell anyone who asked.

Why this matters more than people think

Your credit file isn’t just a score. It’s the answer key. When you apply for a loan or wire money, your bank verifies you with questions pulled straight from your credit report. Services like PayPal and Cash App lean on the same data to raise your transfer limits. Once that information is out, someone can impersonate you to open accounts, move money, and pass the exact “security” checks meant to stop them.

This is why a one-year credit monitoring offer (what Equifax handed out after the breach) was never going to cut it. The exposure lasts for years. So the goal isn’t to watch for fraud after it happens. It’s to lock the doors before it does.

Freeze your credit. It’s free now.

This is the most important step, and the rules changed in your favor. Since September 21, 2018, federal law requires all three bureaus to let you freeze and unfreeze your credit at no charge. No more per-state fees, no more mailing letters. (When I first did this, I paid $10 per agency and had to write to each one. Forget all of that.)

A freeze means no one can pull your credit to open new accounts unless you temporarily lift it using your online account or PIN. You stay in control. The only tradeoff: when you apply for a mortgage or car loan, you briefly thaw the relevant bureau. That’s a small price.

Do this for everyone in your family, and consider doing it for your kids too. Freeze your report at each of the big three:

• Equifax

• TransUnion

• Experian

The two bureaus everyone forgets

Most people stop at the big three. Don’t. Two more reporting agencies feed banks and credit unions, and they’re just as worth freezing:

• Innovis, the often-overlooked fourth credit bureau: innovis.com/personal/securityFreeze

• ChexSystems, the agency most banks and credit unions use to approve new checking and savings accounts: chexsystems.com/security-freeze/information

That ChexSystems freeze is the one that stops a criminal from opening a bank account in your name, which the big-three freezes don’t cover. It’s the step almost nobody takes, and it closes a real hole.

Block access to your Social Security record

You can block electronic and automated phone access to your Social Security record so nobody can view your earnings or estimated benefits through SSA’s automated systems.

You need to add an “Electronic Access Block,” and as of 2026 SSA only does it via:

- Phone: call 1-800-772-1213 and ask to block electronic access to your record, or

- In person at a local SSA office.

Monitor what’s left

Freezing locks the doors. Monitoring tells you if someone is rattling the handles.

I use Credit Karma, which gives me real-time alerts on inquiries, my history, and report details. It’s free because they show you credit card offers and earn a referral when you accept (how it works). Their privacy policy is in plain English, and they don’t sell your reports or scores to unaffiliated third parties.

You can also pull your actual reports for free every week at annualcreditreport.com. The free weekly access that started during the pandemic is now permanent, so there’s no reason not to check.

One tip: set up Credit Karma before you place a freeze, since a freeze can complicate signing up afterward.

Secure the money itself

Locks and alarms only help if you know where the valuables are. Know the limits on every financial account. What’s the most that can move in or out, and how do they verify it’s really you? Turn on two-factor authentication and use strong, unique passwords. Set up email and mobile alerts for things like a new bank account being linked to your brokerage.

A few habits that matter:

• Credit cards have sophisticated fraud systems. Checking accounts often don’t.

• Skip the debit card for anything risky. It’s a one-way pipe straight out of your checking account, and you may be stuck with an empty account for days while fraud is sorted out.

• Know whether your bank has a 24/7 security team or a local branch that’s closed on weekends.

Make a list of every place that can pull cash out of your accounts, and harden each one.

Have a plan for when it happens anyway

Assume you’ll be a target and plan for it. The most cost-effective coverage is often one you already have, so check your homeowner’s policy for identity theft protection before buying a standalone product.

My provider is PURE, and their fraud and cyber coverage (PURE Starling) is the most comprehensive I’ve seen. It reimburses financial loss from fraud whether it happens online or off: social engineering scams, unauthorized wire transfers and payments, check forgery, counterfeit money, and identity fraud. You can choose limits from $100,000 all the way up to $2,000,000. It also comes with PURE CyberSafe Solutions, which includes a cyber advice line you can call when something feels off, a security fundamentals check, and identity protection services through Experian.

I’m not going to turn to the same companies that put my data at risk to also sell me protection. That’s backwards.

The short version

1. Freeze your credit at Equifax, TransUnion, Experian, plus Innovis and ChexSystems. It’s free.

2. Block automated access to your Social Security record.

3. Set up free monitoring and pull your reports regularly.

4. Secure your cash accounts and kill easy money-out paths.

5. Make sure you have identity theft insurance, ideally through coverage you already pay for.

The credit bureaus are the single point of failure for our financial lives, and I don’t recommend giving them another dollar. Freeze everything, lean on better tools, and take away their power to expose you. It takes an afternoon, and it’s the best money-free upgrade you can make to your security.