Data Breaches
If you are concerned about identity theft because of a data breach, you have good reason to be concerned, but the fact that a company who possesses your identifying information was hacked does not necessarily mean that perpetrators are going to use your information to commit identity theft. Unfortunately, the law regarding data breaches does not yet give consumers the right to know more about what specifically was stolen about them and how high the risk level is. The liability of companies who are hacked causing consumers to be exposed to potential identity theft is a very unsettled area of the law at this time.
The best thing you can do when this happens is to be watchful and take sufficient precautions. These actions might include:
- Change your passwords if you know the data breach involved the theft of passwords. If you have been using the same password for other sites, you should change the password for those sites as well.
- Cancel your credit card if you know the data breach involved the theft of your credit card number. Banks more recently have been pro-active about cancelling credit card numbers they believe have been compromised, so you may be notified by your bank before you even realize your information was involved in a data breach.
- Monitor your credit reports for a period of time more frequently. The good news is that most of the time when a company has been hacked and your personal information or credit card information has been stolen, they will offer free credit monitoring.
Do You Need Help?
If you are a victim of identity theft and have difficulty removing fraudulent accounts from your credit report, removing fraudulent charges from your bank statement, or are having difficulty with debt collector harassment, Gorski Law may be able to help. Gorski Law can remove fraudulent accounts from you credit report or bank statement, stop debt collector harassment and obtain compensation for any harm you have experienced as result of the these companies failure to correct the identity theft that occurred. Initial consultations are always free. Call 215-330-2100 or email the firm to schedule a consultation now.