A Pre-Cyber Monday Warning: 100 Million People Were Victims of This Single Identity Fraud

This month, Americans witnessed one of the biggest cybercrimes of our time.

According to The Economist:

The criminal charges outlined in New York and other places on November 10th against three men said to be behind a huge hacking and fraud operation give details of how they allegedly attacked at least 12 companies, including banks, media outlets and a software firm. The proceeds, since the scams started in 2007, amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. They stole personal data relating to more than 100m people, 83m of them customers of JPMorgan Chase.

One hundred MILLION people. That is just under 1/3 the population of the entire United States. The three criminals charged were not expert hackers, they were just three bad guys who bought the right tools at the right time on the black market.

There is a lesson to be learned about this massive data breach. You can’t control who acquires the tools to steal your identity, but you can control how prepared you are to respond.

The best ID theft defense is vigilance

Cybercrime is constantly evolving at a rapid pace. Identity theft cost Americans over $16 billion in 2014 alone. While nobody can prevent all identity theft, there are measures we can take to be proactive about protecting our identity and our money- especially if you have multiple credit cards and use them frequently.

Feel free to contact the Bodnar Financial office to learn more about ID protection and to discuss if enrolling in an identity protection service makes sense for you.

(Disclaimer: These are the opinions of Bodnar Financial Advisors, Inc. and not necessarily those of Cambridge, are for informational purposes only, and should not be construed or acted upon as individualized investment advice. Indices mentioned are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.)