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Nobody wants to hear that their personal information has been leaked on the dark web. Finding out that your email address, password, or mailing address has been leaked is bad enough, but nothing is more nerve-wracking than having your Social Security number leaked.
However, it’s not a lost cause. A reputable identity theft protection service can help secure your identity even if your personal information has been exposed. LifeLock exists for this exact purpose.
With LifeLock’s monitoring services, you’ll have advanced warning and time to secure your identity and get your life back in order after your Social Security number has been leaked on the dark web. Here’s how it works:
Confirm your Social Security number has been compromised
Social Security Number breaches can be serious, resulting in Social Security fraud and welfare fraud in addition to credit card fraud and applying for fraudulent loans. But don’t panic.
Some identity theft alerts are phishing scams in disguise. Make sure your alert is coming from a reputable source or identity theft monitoring tool like LifeLock.
If your Social Security number has been listed on the dark web, LifeLock can help before anyone manages to steal your identity.
Monitoring your leaked Social Security number
Thanks to LifeLock’s proactive information scanning and detection system, you’ll get notified of a potential threat to your identity early, so you can take action.
While this is still a horrifying position to be in, advanced warning gives you time to prepare. LifeLock will alert you should it find any of your personal information has been exposed on the Dark Web, up to and including your Social Security Number. So if LifeLock detects an exposure of your information, the system will send you an alert about what information has been leaked and will then monitor for suspicious activity across all of your accounts.
This gives you time to start pre-emptively locking down your banking accounts and place fraud alerts with the major credit bureaus ahead of a breach. You may also consider alerting the IRS if you suspect your leaked Social Security Number will be used in any kind of tax fraud.
You’ll also want to keep an eye on your credit reports for signs of suspicious activity, which LifeLock can help with by continuing to monitor your credit reports and your various accounts. If your social security was compromised through a breach in a database or organization, you’ll want to keep a close eye on any further guidance or remediation steps offered.
In case a breach is detected, LifeLock can help restore your identity. So while it is terrifying, having your information exposed on the dark web is far from a lost cause.
If your identity was stolen, it’s still not too late
If you weren’t able to prevent your Social Security Number from being used, you still have options. LifeLock can help you get your identity back after it’s been stolen, assuming you had LifeLock protections prior to the theft. All it takes is a few simple steps.
You’ll confirm the breach, notify your bank to lock down your various accounts to prevent any pending and future suspicious transactions. You’ll also want to notify the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at IdentityTheft.gov. And then you’ll want to file a claim with LifeLock and any other identity theft insurance you may have through your work or bank.
LifeLock comes with 24/7 phone support that will connect you to a US-based specialist who will work your case from beginning to end to restore your identity. LifeLock operates under a 100% restoration guarantee or your money back for the current term.
What does it cost?
An identity theft protection service is a small price to pay to keep you and your family safe. The LifeLock Core plan costs $12.49 monthly or $124.99 annually (only $10.49 a month). That’s not a lot to pay to ensure peace of mind, secure your identity, monitor for data breaches, and recover your identity in case of theft.
The Advanced plan costs $16.67 monthly, and the Total plan costs $29.17 monthly or $349.99 annually. The Advanced and Total plans come with increased scam reimbursement funds and greater identity theft reimbursement premiums in addition to the data breach monitoring, identity protection, and recovery services included in the Core plan. That’s not a lot compared to the costs of a stolen identity without any protection or recovery service.
