What Should You Do If Your Driver’s License Data Was Exposed?
You do not need to panic.
But this is the type of breach where taking a few preventive steps can make sense.
1. Consider Freezing Your Credit
A credit freeze restricts access to your credit report.
Because lenders generally need to access your credit before approving a new account, a freeze can make it significantly harder for an identity thief to open new credit in your name.
According to the Federal Trade Commission’s credit-freeze guidance, credit freezes are:
- free to place;
- free to lift;
- available to anyone;
- and do not affect your credit score.
To completely freeze your credit, you need to contact all three major credit bureaus:
- Equifax;
- Experian;
- TransUnion.
A freeze remains in place until you lift it.
If you later apply for a credit card, mortgage, car loan or other product requiring a credit check, you can temporarily lift the freeze.
This is stronger protection against new-credit fraud than simply checking your score occasionally.
2. Review All Three Credit Reports
A credit freeze helps prevent some future fraud.
Your credit reports can help you determine whether suspicious activity has already occurred.
Use AnnualCreditReport.com to obtain reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
This is the official federally authorized source for free credit reports.
Look for:
- accounts you do not recognize;
- credit inquiries you did not authorize;
- unfamiliar addresses;
- lenders you have never used;
- incorrect identifying information;
- and balances or accounts that do not belong to you.
Do not check only your credit score.
A score is a summary number.
The report contains the underlying account information where suspicious activity may appear.
3. Know the Difference Between a Credit Freeze and Fraud Alert
A credit freeze restricts access to your credit file.
A fraud alert tells businesses that they should verify your identity before opening new credit.
They are related, but they are not the same thing.
The FTC says an initial fraud alert is free and lasts one year.
You only need to contact one of the three credit bureaus to place an initial fraud alert; that bureau must notify the other two.
For a freeze, you need to contact all three individually.
You can also have both a freeze and a fraud alert.
The FTC explains the differences in its guide to credit freezes and fraud alerts.
4. Take Advantage of Legitimate Free Monitoring If You Are Offered It
If IDScan notifies you that you may have been affected and offers free monitoring or identity-protection services, consider enrolling.
But make sure you reach the service through a legitimate source.
Data breaches often create an opportunity for a second wave of scams.
A criminal can send an email saying:
“Your driver’s license was exposed. Click here immediately to protect yourself.”
The message may look convincing precisely because a real breach occurred.
Rather than trusting an unexpected link, independently visit the company’s official website or use contact information from a verified breach notice.
IDScan’s official notice is available directly on IDScan.net.
5. Expect More Convincing Phishing Attempts
Stolen identity information can make scams much more believable.
A scammer who knows your real name, address or other identifying details may appear legitimate when contacting you.
The person might claim to represent:
- your bank;
- a credit bureau;
- a government agency;
- your state DMV;
- an identity-protection company;
- law enforcement;
- or a company supposedly investigating the breach.
Knowing personal information about you does not prove the caller or sender is legitimate.
The FTC recommends ending unexpected calls involving supposed account emergencies and independently contacting the organization through a known official number, website or app.
Do not give a caller a verification code simply because that person already knows your name or other personal details.
6. Watch Your Financial Accounts Too
A credit report is not the only place fraud can appear.
Review:
- checking accounts;
- savings accounts;
- credit cards;
- payment apps;
- loan accounts;
- and other financial services you use.
Look for transactions or account changes you do not recognize.
Our 30-Minute Life Admin Reset includes a simple habit that becomes particularly valuable after a breach: regularly scan recent transactions for activity you do not recognize.
You do not need to obsessively check your accounts every hour.
You do need to notice suspicious activity early enough to respond.
7. Strengthen the Accounts That Protect the Rest of Your Digital Life
The IDScan notice does not say that your email password was exposed.
So changing every password you have is not automatically the solution to this particular breach.
But a major identity-data exposure is a useful reminder to secure the accounts criminals could use to impersonate you or reset other accounts.
Start with your primary email account.
Then review banking, cloud storage and other important accounts.
Use unique passwords and strong multifactor authentication where available.
Our Digital Emergency Plan explains why your email, password manager, authentication methods and recovery options function as interconnected parts of your digital identity.
If one account can unlock several others, protecting that account deserves extra attention.
Should You Replace Your Driver’s License?
Not automatically.
Driver’s license replacement policies and whether a license number can be changed vary by state.
Simply obtaining a replacement card may not necessarily give you a new identification number.
If IDScan notifies you that your information was affected, or if you discover actual misuse of your driver’s license information, contact your state’s motor-vehicle agency and ask what options apply in your situation.
Do not assume that paying for a replacement card automatically eliminates the risk.
The more immediate protections for many people will be monitoring for identity misuse, securing financial accounts and considering a credit freeze.
What If You Find Evidence of Identity Theft?
If you discover an account, transaction, credit inquiry or other activity that you believe resulted from someone misusing your identity, act quickly.
The Federal Trade Commission operates IdentityTheft.gov, which creates a personalized recovery plan based on the type of identity theft you report.
The FTC may recommend steps such as:
- contacting the business where the fraud occurred;
- closing or freezing fraudulent accounts;
- disputing inaccurate credit-report information;
- placing fraud alerts;
- documenting the identity theft;
- and taking additional actions based on what information was misused.
You can also read the FTC’s broader guidance on what to know about identity theft.
The important thing is not to ignore suspicious activity because the amount is small.
A transaction or account you do not recognize may be the first visible sign that someone is testing or using your identity.
What a Credit Freeze Cannot Do
A credit freeze is valuable, but it is not a universal identity-theft shield.
It primarily helps stop criminals from opening certain new credit accounts using your identity.
It does not prevent every possible form of fraud.
For example, a credit freeze does not automatically stop:
- phishing attempts;
- attempts to impersonate you;
- misuse of existing accounts;
- fraudulent transactions on an already-compromised payment account;
- scams using stolen personal information;
- or every type of non-credit identity fraud.
That is why protection works best in layers.
A credit freeze can reduce one major risk.
Account monitoring can help detect another.
Strong authentication protects another.
Skepticism toward unexpected calls, texts and emails addresses another.
No single tool solves everything.
