IDShield Blog
Explore our blog for the latest news, advice, and more
across the world of identity theft protection.
Recent Articles
Is Your Computer Hacked? How to Tell & Fix it
Why Do Hackers Attack Your Computer? If you own a computer, you have probably heard about the threat that hackers pose to your system. Hackers are always seeking to gain access to your computer. Once they get in, they can wreak some serious havoc on your data,...
How to Find Out if Someone Has Hacked Your Email
Identity theft is a general term for a huge, terrible problem that affects millions of people per year. It happens when someone steals your personal information to obtain goods and services. The thieves can harm your finances and your credit, and even nullify...
How to Tell if Your Phone Is Hacked & How to Fix It
Your smart phone is your sanctuary. It’s where you keep photos, memories, accounts, passwords, and lots of other personal information. You probably have it with you at all times! You try to keep it as safe and secure as possible. Is your phone dying faster than usual...
Credit Monitoring
How to Freeze Your Credit
"Give credit where credit is due—otherwise freeze it.” Ok, that’s not an actual quote, but yes, you should consider freezing your credit in certain situations. A credit freeze can also be called a security freeze, but why would freezing your credit be beneficial? It’s...
What is a Credit Report Freeze?
What is a credit freeze, aka a security freeze? It’s a “lock” on your credit reports that blocks third parties from viewing your credit score. It also blocks new lines of credit under your name, ensuring that online criminals cannot open new accounts. In other words,...
Credit Monitoring & How to Protect Your Credit
Your credit is important—it’s the key indicator of your financial health. Your creditworthiness is the difference between being able to take out a loan to buy your dream home…or not. Credit monitoring services keep a close eye on your credit and track changes in your...
Data Breach
What is a Data Breach?
Data breaches used to be a shock, but now that most of us have a vibrant digital presence, they’ve become more of a reality. If your personally identifiable information hasn’t been compromised by a breach yet, there’s a decent chance that it will at some point in the...
Recent Data Breaches
Data breaches, hacks, and digital scams are a huge problem not only for companies and governments but for all of us. Because when your Personal Identifiable Information (PII) is exposed, it leads to identity theft and potentially losing the funds in your bank account....
Can You Keep Your Info From Being Leaked in a Data Breach?
The short answer to this question is: no. But if you ask the right questions, you can certainly lessen the chances that your personal information will be leaked in a company’s data breach. Data breaches have been dominating the news in recent years and unfortunately,...
Fraud Protection
Recognizing Email Scams: Weird Symbols to Look for
Once upon a time, it was a thrill to receive email. We enthusiastically welcomed birthday greetings and meet-up offers from friends, but today, most inboxes receive a deluge of unwanted, suspicious-looking content. Unfortunately, much of it is spam. So, it follows...
Why Older Americans are Top Scam Targets
Scammers who target the elderly seem to be all around us. You’ve likely heard about the grandparent's scam where a caller claims to be an individual's grandchild needing emergency cash. Another classic theme is that the individual has won a prize or giveaway. The...
How SIM Swap Works: What You Need to Know
Have you heard people talking about SIM, but didn’t know what it was? A SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module) looks like the chip on the front of most credit cards, but slightly bigger. This microdevice enables your phone to connect with your cellular provider and...
Hacking
Is Your Computer Hacked? How to Tell & Fix it
Why Do Hackers Attack Your Computer? If you own a computer, you have probably heard about the threat that hackers pose to your system. Hackers are always seeking to gain access to your computer. Once they get in, they can wreak some serious havoc on your data,...
How to Find Out if Someone Has Hacked Your Email
Identity theft is a general term for a huge, terrible problem that affects millions of people per year. It happens when someone steals your personal information to obtain goods and services. The thieves can harm your finances and your credit, and even nullify...
How to Tell if Your Phone Is Hacked & How to Fix It
Your smart phone is your sanctuary. It’s where you keep photos, memories, accounts, passwords, and lots of other personal information. You probably have it with you at all times! You try to keep it as safe and secure as possible. Is your phone dying faster than usual...
Identity Theft
What is Criminal Identity Theft?
Criminal identity theft happens when someone who is cited or arrested for a crime uses someone else’s personal information as ID. The result: a criminal record now exists in the name of the person whose ID was hijacked. This can have all sorts of repercussions, and...
What is Synthetic Identity Theft?
Synthetic identity theft occurs when a fraudster combines real and fake personal information to create a new identity—as opposed to stealing an existing one. A thief can use a real Social Security number combined with a fake name and date of birth to ‘Frankenstein’...
What is Tax Identity Theft
As the Fab Four sang, you can’t avoid the tax man. But if you’re careful, you can avoid tax identity theft. What is tax identity theft? It’s when someone steals your identity and fraudulently files taxes or works in your name. Translation: someone else can end up with...
Identity Theft Taxes
Protect Your Business Email From Being Compromised (BEC)
W-2 forms and other income tax document thefts caused massive headaches for the government and taxpayers years ago when stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF) was at its peak. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) lost billions of dollars, and taxpayer refunds were...
Internet Privacy
Don’t Forget About Those Old Accounts and Profiles
Myspace, Flickr, Hi5, Foursquare, Google Plus…. Remember those? During your time online it’s highly likely that you’ve left a few old accounts and profiles online. These can pose risks to both your reputation and your online security. Here’s how IDShield can help you....
Keep Your Private Information Safe On Dating Apps—The Do’s and Don’ts
Getting to know someone online means sharing your personal details. But you must be careful not to overshare because if you do, it could lead to your identity being stolen or your private data being sold. If you’re asking yourself, “is the Tinder app private?” or “are...
How Data Brokers Sell Your Identity & Personal Information
Do you know who's selling your data? That can be a difficult question to answer. Credit reporting bureaus are data brokers, but they’re only the tip of the iceberg. Tech companies, credit card companies, marketing agencies and more mine data for their own use, which...
Internet Scams
Breast Cancer Awareness Month – Be Aware of These Charity Scams
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month! You’re sure to see pink ribbons hanging in business windows, car bumpers, people’s shirts or hats, and countless other places. Since breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the U.S., it’s no surprise that nearly...
Ever Heard of Dark Patterns? Don’t Let These Questionable Tactics Claim Your Cash or Personal Info
Dark patterns. You'll soon hear much more about these techniques that manipulate consumers into decisions they might not ordinarily make. Think you can spot these manipulatives in online ads? It's more complicated than you think. So much so that a group of data and...
Can You Confirm This Big Purchase?
Beware Requests to Confirm Big Purchases! The first text—this one's from Amazon—asks you to confirm you bought an iPhone 12 for $1,130. "Just let us know if you did not make the purchase, and we'll cancel it," the text reads. A second message asks for confirmation of...
Internet Security
Public Wi-Fi May be Free But it Comes With a Price
Practically everyone uses public Wi-Fi. Most coffee shops, restaurants, gyms, planes, airports, and hotels offer it. It’s convenient and free. But the reality is, it comes with a price. Because when you use public Wi-Fi, you’re much more exposed to getting hacked,...
Why You Need Stronger Passwords
For every door that opens on the internet, there’s usually a “key” to open that door—in other words, a combination of username and password. And behind each door is a ton of personal information about you. If you use easy-to-hack passwords, reuse them across sites,...
Small Businesses: How to Prevent Cyber Attacks & Why You Should Be Worried
In a lot of ways, being a small business owner is like being a parent. Your business is your baby, and you need to protect it at all costs. With that said, you’ve probably already heard about cybercrime and the importance of maintaining good “online protection.” But...
Member Benefits
Child Identity Theft: How Can Child Identity Theft Occur?
These days, almost everyone is online—including our kids. Translation: children’s private information is more exposed than ever. Why? Because information about them is collected every time they play an online game on their tablet, text with their friends on their...
24/7 Emergency Access for Identity Theft Issues
Identity theft has been a problem for years. Coronavirus has created more new opportunities for ID thieves to steal your info. During the coronavirus pandemic, more people than ever before are using the internet to work, shop, and stay entertained while they remain...
New IDShield Identity Theft Services For Digital Privacy & Cyberbullying
Anti-Cyberbullying Consultation and Assistance IDShield now offers advanced services that provide comprehensive privacy and anti-cyberbullying consultation and assistance. In addition to data monitoring and threat alerts, members will receive one-on-one consultation...
Online Identity
Guide for Protecting Your Digital Identity
What is a digital identity? Do I have a digital identity? And what, exactly, does my digital identity tell other people about me? It’s a fact of modern life that nearly everyone has a digital identity. It’s also a fact that your digital identity may not speak...
How to Know if Your Identity Has Been Stolen
Talented identity thieves work subtly and quickly enough to get at your personal information before you even notice that anything’s wrong. So, how do you know if your identity has been stolen? We’ll go over how to check to see if you’ve been a victim then discuss ways...
How Does Online Identity Theft Happen?
Not everyone will experience online identity theft. But hundreds of thousands of Americans do—it’s one of the fastest growing crimes in America. The fact is, these days, there are scammers looking to steal your online identity, any way they can, 24/7. So how does...
Password Safety
How Secure is Your Password? Password Strength Tips
Are you a QWERTY fan? Maybe sports teams are more your thing—Cowboys42, anyone? If you haven't guessed yet, these are common password choices—ones that should be eternally banned for a variety of reasons. But the main reason to stop these lightweight password...
Password Security: How to Make a Good Password
Are Your Passwords Secure? If you’re guilty of reusing that same password of your dog’s name for every single account, you are not alone. That said, it might be time for an intervention on “password clinging.” Data breaches happen every day, and the sad fact is, they...
Two Factor Authentication: What it is and Why it’s Key in Your Online Security
Your Digital Privacy is More at Risk than Ever If the data breaches we have seen in the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that we should take our digital security seriously. And the number one reason breaches occur? Passwords. These days, the password with...
Social Media
How to Recover Your Hacked Facebook Account
In today's digital age, hacking has become a common issue. Many of us have experienced the frustration and panic that comes with losing control of our social media accounts. But no need to worry—there's always a remedy! In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to regain...
Job Hunting? Review Your Social Media First
Recruiters, employers, and co-workers are all guilty of checking your social media either to see how you might fit into their organization or out of simple curiosity about who you are; chances are if you have taken the time to look someone up, they have done the same....
Don’t Let Your Social Media Posts from Years Ago Define You
There’s no denying that social media has shifted the way we express ourselves. From discussing current events to wearing that favorite outfit, to making new friends—what was once reserved for social get-togethers has now moved online. It’s sometimes hard to remember a...
Taxes
Stolen Tax Refund – 7 Steps to Take Now
Spring is here, which means that it’s tax filing season—woohoo! Hopefully, after you go through the necessity of filling out your return, you’ll have a nice refund coming your way, courtesy of Uncle Sam. But wait—can someone steal your tax refund check? Unfortunately,...
Protect Your Business Email From Being Compromised (BEC)
W-2 forms and other income tax document thefts caused massive headaches for the government and taxpayers years ago when stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF) was at its peak. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) lost billions of dollars, and taxpayer refunds were...
How Should You Respond to Potential IRS Scams?
It’s that time of year once again. The holidays have come and gone and we’re all settling into a new year. With all of our resolutions aside, one thing is still left to do - our taxes. This season is also the time where IRS-related scams are plentiful. It’s...
Uncategorized
Cybercriminals are Targeting Universities with Ransomware: Are You Next?
Cybercriminals are holding student data up for ransom across several universities. While students have been packing up their backpacks and returning to class after a prolonged “learn-from-home” setting, cybercriminals have kept their “nose to the keyboard” and...
Speak with an Identity Theft Specialist Today
IDShield Product Overview
Protect Your Identity
with IDShield
Controlling your identity has never been so critical. Rather than waiting for something to go wrong, we need to take an active role in protecting our identity, privacy, and reputation online. IDShield is here to help you understand where the pitfalls lie and how you can protect yourself and your family now and in the future.
IDShield Product Overview
Take Control of your
Privacy with IDShield
We’ve all signed up for something without really thinking about how it affects our privacy. It’s time to take back control of your data and your privacy. IDShield can help make protection personal, giving you tools and services that go beyond reactive alerting. We are the only product that comprehensively equips you with privacy management and guarantees that if your privacy is violated, they’ll help you take back control with an unlimited service guarantee, consultation, and a complete array of tools empowering you to have control over your digital life.