What to Do When Your Account Has Been Hacked?
|Data breaching and identity theft have become serious threats for our online data. Account hacking is always associated with online web activities and transactions. Forget the thing that your Private data is safe in your online account. A hacker is keeping an eye on your account activities and data. In recent years, we have seen how various giant companies have become the victims of data breaching and identity theft. By hacking the accounts, hackers have done a severe loss not only to companies but to so many consumers also.
If your account has been hacked, here are certain things which you can do to protect your account from further damages.
Determine what is stolen from your account
List down each and every data you have lost in account hacking. The data can be both your general data and your sensitive personal data. Rethink think about all your data which were linked to that account and make a note of it.
Change passwords of the affected accounts
Immediately change your account’s password if your account has been hacked. This time, set a strong and complex password which is very difficult to be guessed. You can take help from Password Manager in order to set a complex password.
If your account is providing two-factor authentication feature, then use it to make your account more secure.
Contact relevant financial organizations
If your e-payment accounts have been hacked and your credit card or debit card data has been stolen, then immediately contact your relevant bank and inform them about your data hacking and tell them to block your card as soon as possible. Also, ask them to inform you if they find any suspicious activity from your card and bank account.
Contact your credit reporting bureaus
Contact your credit reporting bureaus and issue a fraud alert on your name. Fraud alert will notify you if someone tries to steal your financial activity. Also, you may ask for help from law firms like Lexington to assist you on this and to make sure the items reported on your credit reports are accurate. Check Crediful to know more about Lexington Law Firm services.
Request a security freeze
For a temporary period of time, freeze bank account so that no one can have access to your credit report in order to get a new credit application. It will help in verifying whether it’s you who has requested for credit card or the request has come from someone else.
Monitor your financial accounts
Check your bank statements, credit cards and debit cards. Check all the recent transactions you have done before your account has been hacked. It is important because, sometimes, hackers check whether your credit cards and debit cards are functioning or not by doing a small transaction of two or three dollars. Keep your eye on your financial accounts
Set up text or email alert
By informing bank about the account hacking that has happened to you, they can set up an email or text alert. By enabling this feature, you will be notified every time through a text or email when any transaction is made through your card.
Conclusion
Data breaching and account hacking can cause a severe damage to your resources and can affect your financial life very badly. Follow these points if your account has been hacked. Be a little proactive and think before putting any sort of detail in your account. Do not expose all your sensitive data on the internet, and if you are already exposing some, then make sure you have set a complex password for your account, and enable two-factor authentication.