Ohio AG DeWine offers consumer tips following Yahoo breach announcement

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has offered tips for consumers following Yahoo’s recent announcement of a data breach affecting more than one billion user accounts.

Yahoo has reported it believes the information was compromised in August 2013 and may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, “hashed” passwords, and some security questions and answers.

“If your personal information has been compromised, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll experience identity theft, but you should take steps to protect yourself,” Attorney General DeWine said. “Update your passwords. Make them long and complex. Use a different password for each of your accounts. Watch for scams related to the breach. If you need help, contact the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.”

Tips for affected consumers include:

Change your passwords and your security questions and answers. In addition to changing your Yahoo account passwords, change passwords for other accounts too, if you used the same password for those accounts. Create a different password for each account. Similarly, change security questions and answers.
Use complex passwords. A password should be lengthy and contain multiple different characters, such as a variety of numbers, letters, and symbols. To help create such a password, consider taking a sentence you can remember and adding multiple different numbers and symbols throughout. Update your passwords regularly.
Consider using two-factor verification. Two-factor authentication requires a password and another step to verify your identity. For instance, some sites may require a password and then ask you to enter a unique code to access your account. This adds a second line of defense.
Monitor your bank accounts. Look for suspicious activity. If you find errors, immediately notify your bank or credit provider.
Check your credit report. Monitoring your credit report can help you identify signs of potential identity theft. It can also help to uncover how low or high your score is – in the instance that yours is undesirably low, you may want to check out the suggestions over on Money Talks News for raising it. You are entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies. Visit www.AnnualCreditReport.com to access those reports. You can pull all three at once, or you can stagger pulling your reports throughout the year. If you don’t know if you have a credit score then you have probably never had a credit card before. If this is true then applying for credit card with no credit history is easy, you just need to find the best place to do it. It can really benefit your finances as long as you keep everything secure so it’s worth looking into.
Beware of scams related to the breach. Con artists may pretend to have information about the breach or they may falsely claim to want to help you. Some calls or messages may be scams designed to steal your money or personal information. Don’t give out personal information to those who contact you unexpectedly (even if they say they want to help you) and be wary about clicking on links or downloading attachments in messages.
Signs of possible identity theft may include:

Unexpected mail about accounts you did not open.
Credit card charges you never made.
Unexpected collection calls.
Another person’s name showing up in your background check or credit report.
Credit reporting errors or a lower-than-expected credit score.
Victims of identity theft should contact the Ohio Attorney General’s Office at 800-282-0515 or www.OhioProtects.org. Attorney General DeWine created an Identity Theft Unit in 2012 to help victims repair the effects of identity theft, such as by clearing fraudulent debt in a victim’s name.