The 10-Minute Identity Protection Checklist
- Freeze your credit at all three bureaus. A freeze stops anyone from opening new credit in your name. It's free, takes about 15 minutes, and you can unfreeze anytime. Step-by-step guide here.
- Turn on transaction alerts for every bank account and credit card, so you see charges the moment they happen.
- Use a unique password for every financial account. A password manager makes this painless. Reused passwords are how one breach becomes ten.
- Enable two-factor authentication on email, banking, and any account with a saved payment method. Your email account is the master key to everything else.
- Claim your accounts before a thief does. Create online accounts with the Social Security Administration (ssa.gov) and IRS (irs.gov) — if you don't, an identity thief can register as you.
- Request your free credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com and scan for accounts or inquiries you don't recognize.
- Opt out of prescreened credit offers at OptOutPrescreen.com — stolen mail offers are a classic identity theft entry point.
- Shred documents with account numbers, SSNs, or medical information before tossing them.
- Know the warning signs: bills that stop arriving, collection calls for debts you don't recognize, a denied application despite good credit, a tax return rejected as "already filed," or medical bills for care you never received.
The honest limitation of this checklist: these steps make you a harder target, but they can't watch the dark web, your SSN, or all three credit bureaus around the clock — and they can't tell you if your information is already out there from a past breach.
That's what continuous monitoring is for. IdentityIQ checks all three bureaus daily, scans the dark web for your information, and backs you with up to $1M in identity theft insurance if something gets through.
Advertising Disclosure: We receive compensation when you enroll with IdentityIQ through links on this site. This does not affect the price you pay.