Millions Of Illinois Social Security Numbers Stolen: What To Do

When I was first given possession of my Social Security card (my parents had been keeping it safe until I was old enough to need it), my dad warned me to "guard it with my life," because I would be needing it for so many things in life going forward.

I did what he asked, and my Social Security card is still in a safe place and in pristine condition. When it came to be time to give my kids their Social Security cards to watch out for themselves, I said the same things my dad said to me. My kids also have theirs in a safe place and in good condition.

As you may have seen in news reports, all of the efforts we may have put into keeping that little card safe didn't do all that much good because hackers managed to swipe the information on nearly 3 billion (not a typo, it's B) Social Security cards, more than likely including everyone in the state of Illinois (and every other state). Now what are we supposed to do?

According To News Reports, It's Not Just Our Social Security Card Numbers That Were Stolen

The information about what has happened started flowing when National Public Data, a company that aggregates data for use in background checks and other things, announced on their website that they had been the victims of a hacking:

The incident is believed to have involved a third-party bad actor that was trying to hack into data in late December 2023, with potential leaks of certain data in April 2024 and summer 2024. The information that was suspected of being breached contained name, email address, phone number, social security number, and mailing addresses.

But wait, there's more.

A law firm involved in a lawsuit over this breach says that 2.9 billion records dating back at least 30 years were stolen, and the information also included card holder's histories and information about their relatives, too.

Here's What The Experts In This Sort Of Thing Are Saying You Should Do Now To Protect Yourself

Fortunately, the list of things to do now is not all that long, but some of it will involve some work on your part. National Public Data, the ones who were originally hacked, has the following recommendations:

• Closely monitor your financial accounts and if you see any unauthorized activity, you should promptly contact your financial institution.
• Contact the three U.S. credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to obtain a free credit report from each by calling 1.877.322.8228 or by logging onto www.annualcreditreport.com.
• Place a free fraud alert on your credit file. A fraud alert tells creditors to contact you before they open any new accounts or change your existing accounts. Contact any one of the three major credit bureaus. As soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others are notified to place fraud alerts.
• Ask each credit bureau to send you a free credit report after it places a fraud alert on your file. Review your credit reports for accounts and inquiries you do not recognize. These can be signs of identity theft.

Here's some more help: