147 | My Name Is What? My Name Is Who?... | Protecting Your Identity In A Digital World

The Fat & Broke Podcast

Show Summary:

Recently, a friend of ours purchased what appeared to be a fantastic deal online. What he got instead was days of anxiety and stress. Luckily, with his bank's help and quick action, he could avoid the worst possible outcome. However, this is not the case for the millions of people each year who have their identities stolen. In today's episode of The Fat & Broke Podcast, we help each other learn more about identity theft, how to prevent it, and what to do if it happens.

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Intro:

We dispute the show intro that claims we are helping ourselves and each other improve our lives. Additionally, we discuss Gary's sourdough dinners. Delicious!

Headline Of The Week:

Changing What Time You Exercise Can Help You Lose More Weight

An awful article from Sci-Tech Daily claims that when you matter to weight loss, in particular, they state that it is different for men and women. We call this out for that garbage that it is!

Topics Discusses & Questions Answered:

Types of Identity Theft:

1. Financial
2. Tax
3. Medical
4. Employment
5. Child
6. Estate
7. Criminal
8. Synthetic

How To Prevent Identity Theft:

• Check accounts often (Mint or another account Manager is helpful)
• Regular checks of your credit report.
• Freeze credit
• Don't answer email, mail, calls, or texts asking for personal information
• Review all medical EOBs
• Check the e-verify site if you suspect employment fraud
• Check your child's credit
• Turn off your computer
• Use a VPN
• Use a password manager and strong passwords
• Consider using an authenticator app
• Enable two-step verification
• Enable credit alerts
• Shred important documents
• Get your mail daily
• Use informed delivery from the USPS to make sure you received all mail
• Avoid public wi-fi
• Put less personal information on social media
• Use digital wallets and protect your mobile device using biometrics.

What To Do If Your Identity Is Stolen:

• Contact the company involved
• Freeze your credit at all three credit bureaus
• Set up fraud alerts
• Get all three credit reports
• Notify the FTC and local authorities
• Change passwords
• Cancel card/account affected

Resources:

• Changing What Time You Exercise Can Help You Lose More Weight
• AnnualCreditReport.Com
• Experian
• Equifax
• Transunion
• Credit Karma
• USPS Informed Delivery
• Treasury Direct
• E-Verify