Data Breach: Office of Management and Budget- “ 4 Million Federal Employees data breached”

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