Nearly half of all Americans may have had their personal information- Social Security numbers, names, addresses and dates of birth- stolen in the massive Equifax data breach revealed last week.

Why should you be concerned about the Equifax data breach and identity theft?

Identity thieves may attempt to use your credit cards,  access your accounts, or open new accounts or credit in your name. It can be hard to notice that you were a victim of identity theft until you review your reports or statements and see charges you didn’t make, or are contacted by a debt collector about a debt that you don’t recognize. Fraudulent activity may not happen immediately after a data breach and can happen months from now.

How to protect yourself from identity theft

1. Set up free credit monitoring. Your credit cards may offer this service for free. If not, go to creditkarma.com to sign up for a free account and credit monitoring. You will receive an alert if there is any suspicious activity on your credit, and also see your credit score and get tips on how to improve it.
2. Freeze your credit with all 3 credit bureaus.

What is a credit freeze?

It prevents criminals from accessing your credit report and opening new credit, loans or services in your name.

How much does a credit freeze cost?

Anywhere from free to $10 per credit bureau based on your resident state, so up to $30 total. Here is a list of states and their fees. This is a one time fee compared to paid credit monitoring which is ongoing monthly fees. Credit thaws also are free to $10 per credit bureau.

Who can see my credit report?

• You can see it and request a free annual credit report from each credit agency
• Your existing creditors can see it- credit cards, loans, etc. So when you request a credit limit increase, you do not have to thaw your credit.
• Government agencies with legal authority

What if I want to finance a new cell phone or rent an apartment?

Ask the creditor which credit bureau they need to access your credit report. You can then thaw your credit at just the requested credit bureau for a brief time period.

How do I setup a credit freeze?

Here is a walkthrough of how to freeze your credit at each of the three credit bureaus:

Equifax:

TransUnion:

Experian:

If you want to save thousands of dollars over your lifetime and minimize the interest on your loan payments, check your credit score now and make a goal to increase it to over 720. How much does your credit score matter? Take a look at the FICO scores and their different APR, monthly payments, and total interest paid on a 5 year $20,000 car loan.

For this example, the difference between a credit score of 500 and 720 is $135/month extra interest payments and $8,100 extra interest paid in total over the five year loan.

How do you increase your credit score? First, let’s take a look at how your FICO score is calculated:

Next, follow these steps:

1. Check Your Credit Report – You can get a non-FICO credit score for free at CreditKarma.com.  You can also request one free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian) once every 12 months from annualcreditreport.com.  When you get your credit report and/or score, check it for errors and if you find any on your report, dispute them with the credit bureau and reporting agency.
2. Pay Your Bills on Time – 35% FICO score. Set up automatic bill payments from your bank accounts. Also, make sure to set up automatic payments on any debt, such as auto, student, home, and personal loans.
3. Optimize Credit Card Utilization – 30% FICO score. In addition to paying your bills on time, focus on reducing credit card debt. Keep your credit card balances below 30% of your credit card limit. If your total credit card limit is $10,000, your monthly credit card balance should not go over $3,000. The utilization rate shows lenders that you use credit responsibly and that you don’t rely too heavily on borrowed money and don’t carry balances month to month.
4. Maintain 2 credit cards – 15% FICO score. Consumers with more credit accounts generally have better credit scores because it shows that more lenders have extended credit to you.  On the other hand, closing a credit card reduces the amount of credit that is available to you and may also reduce your overall credit history.