Hackers may have stolen the Social Security numbers of every American

[Cnon20]

Not good at all!

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-08-13/hacker-claims-theft-of-every-american-social-security-number

[james.hendrickson]

I saw that also...but it wasn't clear what to do about it.

[kork13]

My information has been stolen more times than I could even begin to count. I'm quite confident of that reality. I'm fact, pretty sure my SSN was used by a Mexican to start up a cell phone with T-Mobile a few years back. I even have his name & address in San Diego (that were used, assuming they weren't fake).... That activity showed up on the identity monitoring I still have active from the massive OPM data hack a decade+ ago.

Pretty sure there was also another kid running around with my passport at some point decades back -- the pouch holding my family's passports were stolen from our car while vacationing in Hawaii (nothing else was touched, in spite of plenty of worthy theft options).

This junk is simply a fact of life today. Especially with these data collection companies that collect/hoard/sell everyone's information? What do you expect. Here's an idea, make this kind of data collection illegal, or at least require deletion of data older than 3/6/12 months or something.

[srblanco7]

This junk is simply a fact of life today. Especially with these data collection companies that collect/hoard/sell everyone's information? What do you expect. Here's an idea, make this kind of data collection illegal, or at least require deletion of data older than 3/6/12 months or something.

My info has been included in multiple hacks. As kork says - pretty much just a fact of being alive in 2024. I have free credit monitoring from one of many prior hacks, my credit is frozen, and have ID theft insurance (which also includes monitoring).

I'm considering obtaining an IRS pin which seems like a logical next step.

[disneysteve]

Account breaches are the norm today. We’ve had our credit cards replaced several times. I hardly even pay attention anymore to the notices we get in the mail from companies telling us that our data was part of a breach they experienced. I even lost my Facebook account earlier this year due to a hack. Honestly that upset me more than anything. I lost all of my photos, friends list, and 15 years of memories. I had to start a brand new account from scratch.

[ua_guy]

I have no doubt my SSN and other identity information has been breached, distributed, bought and sold many times over. The article posted above sadly saved the best part for last, i.e. what you should be doing in response. It's one thing for a thief to have that information, but it's useless if they're unable to use it. These are things that should be part of your routine now. Using strong passwords, rotating them often, using unique passwords for each login credential, and a unique username if you can, as well. Monitoring your credit and other financial account activity regularly. Set up your Social Security online account and secure it. Be vigilant for phishing attempts, scams, and other ways threat actors can use bits of information they know about you to steal even more...

[Cnon20]

Account breaches are the norm today. We’ve had our credit cards replaced several times. I hardly even pay attention anymore to the notices we get in the mail from companies telling us that our data was part of a breach they experienced. I even lost my Facebook account earlier this year due to a hack. Honestly that upset me more than anything. I lost all of my photos, friends list, and 15 years of memories. I had to start a brand new account from scratch.

Sorry to hear of your Facebook hack.

[Cnon20]

Disneysteve, do you know how your Facebook account was taken?

[disneysteve]

Disneysteve, do you know how your Facebook account was taken?

I have no idea.

[Fishindude77]

I have a good friend that deals with all of the scams and hacking activity at a local bank.
The amount of B.S. they have to deal with is incredible. Attacks on security and personal information, and attempted thefts are non stop, 24/7.

Far more robbery is being done electronically these days than hold ups, break ins, and traditional type thievery.

[ua_guy]

I have no idea.

It was likely an account takeover, if the email and password are commonly reused across different sites. The thief breaches one site and then starts plugging in those credentials to other sites to see where they work. Facebook is a good target to try because you can gain lots of relational and personal information.

If that wasn't it, it could have been malware that DS wasn't aware of. There are so many ways an account can be breached.

[disneysteve]

It was likely an account takeover, if the email and password are commonly reused across different sites. The thief breaches one site and then starts plugging in those credentials to other sites to see where they work. Facebook is a good target to try because you can gain lots of relational and personal information.

If that wasn't it, it could have been malware that DS wasn't aware of. There are so many ways an account can be breached.

Honestly, I wasn’t that bothered by the fact that it was hacked. That’s commonplace today. I was upset that Facebook offers no customer service so there was simply no way to recover the account. Must be nice to be such a large company and not have to waste time, money, and resources helping users when they encounter problems.

[Tabs]

I received emails informing me that my account information was leaked, which included my email, password, and Social Security #. Prior to that, I have already experienced compromises to my accounts and passwords. To re-establish security, I have done the following, and I recommend others to look into doing the same as well:

* Use a password manager to store and implement unique passwords.
* I added Two-factor authentication to everything, which typically involves using your phone text, but dedicated apps are better. Best security option is a Yubikey. How far you want to go down this rabbit hole is entirely up to you, but 2FA is highly recommended.
* Lock or even cancel any credit cards you are not using.
* Sign up with any, if not all of the credit score bureaus, and have them freeze your credit. (This prevents anyone, including you, to take out new loans. However, you can thaw your credit again by clicking a button online, so again, please be sure to safeguard your credit score accounts also.)