I have a friend who is in a bad predicament. Recently, laptops containing employee information such as their social security numbers were stolen from the company that my friend is employed at. His company issued a letter advising all their employees of the situation and offered to provide compensation for credit monitoring services for a year. The information on the laptops may or may not be used for illegal activities, however my friend is still concerned that his personal information is floating out there and is worried that it may be used at a future time. So I was wondering if any of you know what steps he should take to protect himself from fraud or even identity theft? Thanks a bunch.

Kevin

 

It's possible that the laptops will just be stripped and sold for parts. One time my dad's office was "raided" and they took laptops, and cameras, but ironically left credit cards, checks, etc. I'd take whatever protection the company would give me, especially if it's free. It would be their responsibility, no?

 

Call one of the three major credit bureaus and put yourself on "fraud alert". Once you do that, whenever someone tries to open a credit line with your info, they'll need to contact you and ask you a bunch of questions before authorizing it. Good luck.

 

call all three and use the free credit monitoring.

 

I did it in 2005. When you call one, they'd notify the other two. I'm not sure if it's still the same.