JOHNNY ACTION FIGHTS BACK • WE ARE DATA™

The Identity Lockdown

Five steps. Do them this weekend. Then post this on the refrigerator.

Florida is #1 in America for identity theft. 617 reports per 100,000 people — the highest rate in the nation. About 496 new victims every day. One new victim every 2.9 minutes. You are not paranoid. You are a target.

1. Freeze Your Credit — Today
If you are not shopping for a loan, your credit should be frozen by default. A freeze stops a thief from opening an account in your name. It is free by federal law. You must do all three bureaus separately. Unfreeze temporarily when you need credit.

Equifax: 1-800-685-1111
Experian: 1-888-397-3742
TransUnion: 1-888-909-8872

2. Turn On Your Alerts
Call your bank and every card issuer. Ask for a text or email alert on any transaction over $20, any new account opened, and any address change.

3. Get a Password Manager
One key should not open every door in the house. A password manager creates and remembers a different strong password for every account.

4. Turn On Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
This is the one that saves you. MFA means a password alone is not enough — you also need a code sent to your phone. A thief in another country can have your password and still be locked out because he does not have your phone. It costs you 25 seconds.

5. Keep This Page
This is your one-page identity checklist. When the breach letter shows up in the mailbox — and it is coming — you do not panic. You pull out this page and you follow it.

Your Daily Habits
Never click a link in an urgent email or text about your account. Type the address in yourself, every time. Check your credit reports every 3 months. Read your Medicare and insurance summary notices. Check every statement, every month. Verify a scary notice by a number you look up, never the number in the message.

The Five Words
Phishing, Credentials, Ransomware, Encryption, and Multi-Factor Authentication are the terms you need to understand and remember.

We are data. Keep the signal clean.

Fall in — JohnnyActionArmy.com