Online scams to steal your identity are now at an all-time high. News stories about data breaches seemingly come out weekly. Protecting yourself, your money, and your credit is more important than ever. Fortunately, there are tools available to help keep you safe. We wanted to take a few moments and highlight some of the most valuable tools.

Avoid phishing scams

This time of year, especially, we see increasingly more sophisticated emails trying to trick you into downloading attachments or clicking links that can be filled with malware. Please be very cautious about clicking links from unknown sources. Hovering your mouse over the URL will frequently show the true link. Be aware of websites that are close to the actual one (FedEx.mail.com instead of FedEx.com) or may have another letter (such as a Cyrillic E instead of an English one). If you’re unsure, it is best to delete the email, or go to a company’s website directly instead of clicking a link.

Sending sensitive information through unsecure email

Email is not secure. It travels through various servers that many people should potentially access before reaching is destination. Please only send documents with personally identifiable information through secure links or portals.

Check your credit report

It’s amazing how many times a fraud happens and you don’t find out until you get a bill in the mail, or go to make a big purchase and can’t because your credit has been impacted. There are a number of credit monitoring services, but you can also check your credit for free at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/.

Freeze your credit

An even more aggressive way to protect your credit is to put a freeze on it. If you’re in a place where you know you will not need to use your credit in the short term (open a credit card, buying a house or car), you can contact the credit agencies to freeze your credit, which would prevent it being used even if your information was compromised. There are paid services you can use to accomplish this, or you can go to each reporting agency individually. You can read more here.

Identity theft pin

One popular scam we’ve seen is the filing of fraudulent tax returns using your SSN. You can request an ID Theft PIN from the IRS to lock down your account. The PIN number is updated annually by the IRS, usually with a new number mailed to you each January. The PIN prevents an e-filed return from being transmitted without that number. You can request a pin directly from the IRS.

With data breaches so prevalent, it’s impossible to keep your information completely secure. However, by using the above tools, you can limit its impact and help protect yourself.