June 4, 2015, by
Lisa Weintraub Schifferle, Attorney, FTC Division of Consumer and Business
Education
A data breach at the Office of Personnel
Management (OPM) and you’re a current or former federal employee whose personal
information may have been exposed. What should you do? Take a deep breath. Here
are the steps to take.
First
Steps
Check your credit report at annualcreditreport.com.
Look for accounts or charges you don’t recognize. Even if the breach didn’t
involve credit card information, thieves may use your Social Security number,
address and date of birth to open accounts in your name.
OPM announced that it plans to offer credit
report access, credit monitoring, and identity theft insurance and recovery
services to potentially affected individuals. Take advantage of this offer.
Place a fraud alert
on your credit reports. With a fraud alert, businesses must verify your
identity before providing new credit. An initial fraud alert lasts 90 days but
you can renew it.
To access the remaining
recommendations click on the link below:
FTC - Federal Employees what to do if your information has been comprised
