“You don’t look very much like your ID,” declared the wary cashier.
“That’s because I lost weight walking over here. Thank you for noticing!” offered the criminal.
Shrugging her shoulders, the worker moved the transaction forward.
This scenario wouldn’t work in real life. But online, it’s another story.
Keep reading for ways to safeguard your identity from cybercriminals.
Medical and Personal Data Leaked by Purfoods
It’s never a good sign when a company states, “You need identity theft protection.”
Because it’s usually after the fact. And damage control is the reason behind their communication.
Such was the case with food delivery business Purfoods. In the middle of January, a cyberattack affected 1,237,681 customers.
Possible data exposed:
- Driver’s licenses
- Social Security Numbers
- Financial accounts
- Payment card information
- Birth dates
- Health information
Minus patient data, the rest are fairly common in these types of breaches.
Why did a company delivering food have Private Health Information (PHI)? In their case, they’d partnered with over 500 health providers to assist those covered by Medicare and Medicaid.
Making an appealing target for nefarious actors. One that they exploited with ransomware.
Aftermath of Exposed Data
Thus, identity protection becomes a necessary expense for the exposed parties and the company. Because Purfoods must now pay for the credit monitoring of those affected.
It also doesn’t factor in customers who will now take their business elsewhere. Decreasing Purfood’s overall customer lifetime value (CLV) metric.
- According to a 2019 study, 21% of consumers will leave a company after they experience a breach
Today, that percentage is likely higher. Because younger customers have less loyalty for brands to begin with. Leaking their data only accelerates this trend.
Next, you’ll learn quick tips for preventing fallout from such an event.
Why You Need Identity Theft Protection for Family
Unless you live in certain parts of the Midwest, you lock your front door.
Why? Because you want to protect your most valuable assets. Family members inside the residence.
Don’t end their defense once they log in online. Or surf the internet on their smartphone.
Besides standard antivirus protection, fraud and credit card monitoring:
- Keep your credit score intact
- Secure your finances
Maybe you’ve already started saving for your child’s college education. Or simply want to leave them in a better place should you pass.
The steps you take today will reap dividends down the road.
Now, you don’t have control over the cybersecurity of the companies you buy from. But you can follow a few easy to implement tips. And decrease the risk of further issues should a leak occur.
Ways to reduce your risk:
- Think before sharing identifiers
- Actually read the terms and conditions
- Be selective with free apps
- Invest in personal cybersecurity
Refuse to move the speed of the internet. In other words, slow down and use the critical thinking you’ve been blessed with.
What Identity Theft Protection is Best?
For Americans, the best one keeps your information safe within our own country. Their loyalty is to you, not a foreign government.
Which is more than we can say for TikTok.
Many popular options operate outside of the United States. Unbeknownst to many of their customers.
To wrap up, we’ll cover a choice that’s much closer to home.
Cyber Team U.S. Identity Protection Services
Hopefully now you see how important it is to work with a cybersecurity company. So, naturally we’ll start with us.
For one thing, we proudly serve our customers as a U.S. cyber team. Imagine that. Keeping the data of Americans on our shores.
Veteran-owned, our services are performed by various vendors. Add to that multiple suppliers.
And the result you get is a decreased risk of compromised personal information!
We offer an identity theft protection plan for freelancers, families, and others seeking a better choice over big-box companies.
Take the first step to safeguard your identity and also that of your loved ones!