The Hacker Tool to Get Personal Data from Credit Bureaus

The new site 404 Media has a good article on how hackers are cheaply getting personal information from credit bureaus: This is the result of a secret weapon criminals are selling access to online that appears to tap into an especially powerful set of data: the targets credit header. This is...

Fintech Startup Offers $500 for Payroll Passwords

How much is your payroll data worth? Probably a lot more than you think. One financial startup thats targeting the gig worker market is offering up to $500 to anyone willing to hand over the payroll account username and password given to them by their employer, plus a regular payment for each mon...

Credit Freezes are Free: Let the Ice Age Begin

It is now free in every U.S. state to freeze and unfreeze your credit file and that of your dependents, a process that blocks identity thieves and others from looking at private details in your consumer credit history. If you've been holding out because you're not particularly worried about ID...

In a Few Days, Credit Freezes Will Be Fee-Free

Later this month, all of the three major consumer credit bureaus will be required to offer free credit freezes to all Americans and their dependents. Maybe you've been holding off freezing your credit file because your home state currently charges a fee for placing or thawing a credit freeze, or...

Survey: Americans Spent $1.4B on Credit Freeze Fees in Wake of Equifax Breach

Almost 20 percent of Americans froze their credit file with one or more of the big three credit bureaus in the wake of last year's data breach at Equifax, costing consumers an estimated $1.4 billion, according to a new study. The findings come as lawmakers in Congress are debating legislation tha...

IRS Releases Sixth Tax Security Tip

The Internal Revenue Service IRS has released the sixth in a series of tips intended to help the public protect personal and financial data online and at home. A new tip will be available each Monday through the start of the tax season in January. This tip describes the types of fraud alerts...