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If your Social Security number (SSN) was exposed, follow the breach notice, check your credit reports, and consider a free credit freeze or fraud alert. If a government-account password was exposed, change it immediately, change any reused passwords, and secure the account through the agency’s official recovery process. Exposure alone does not prove that anyone has misused your information; take protective steps and act promptly if you find suspicious activity.
First, identify what was exposed
An SSN exposure and a compromised login need different responses. A credit freeze can make it harder to open new credit in your name, but it will not secure an email or government-account password. Changing a password will not freeze access to your credit report. If both were exposed, follow both response plans.
- SSN or other personal information exposed: follow the organization’s breach instructions, monitor your credit and accounts, and consider a freeze or fraud alert.
- Password or government login exposed: change the password, secure any account where it was reused, and review the affected account for unauthorized changes.
- Fraud is already visible: contact the affected company or agency, dispute the activity, and report identity theft.
My Social Security number was exposed in a data breach
Read the breach notice and use any included protection
Read the notice carefully and follow the affected organization’s specific instructions. If it offers free credit monitoring, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) advises taking advantage of it. Monitoring may help alert you to activity, but it is not a substitute for a credit freeze or fraud alert. See the FTC’s breach guidance.
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Check your credit reports
Get your reports through AnnualCreditReport.com, which the FTC identifies as the official source. Look for accounts or credit inquiries you do not recognize. The FTC’s recovery steps say reports can be checked weekly for free; check the site for current access details.
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Choose a credit freeze or fraud alert
Both options are free under FTC guidance, but they work differently. A freeze restricts access to your credit report and generally offers a stronger barrier to new credit being opened in your name. You must request it separately from each nationwide bureau. You may need to lift it when applying for credit or another service that checks your report.
A one-year fraud alert asks businesses to take steps to verify your identity before issuing credit. Contact one bureau to place it; that bureau must notify the other two. Compare the options before deciding:
| Protection | What it does | Where to request it | Duration and access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit freeze | Restricts access to your credit report, making it harder for someone to open new credit in your name. | Separately at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. | No fixed duration is stated in the cited FTC guidance; lift or remove it when you need a business to access your report. |
| Fraud alert | Asks businesses to verify your identity before issuing credit. | One of the three nationwide credit bureaus; it must notify the other two. | One year, according to the cited FTC guidance. |
See the FTC’s explanations of credit freezes and fraud alerts and your identity-theft rights.
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Watch for tax and account warning signs
Review financial accounts for unfamiliar charges, and pay attention to unexpected tax notices or other signs that someone is using your information. The FTC advises filing taxes early to reduce the chance that a scammer files first. If you receive a tax notice, respond using official IRS channels; do not treat an unsolicited caller’s threat as an official notice.
Keep the breach notice and related correspondence. Record the dates and people you contact, and save copies of reports, disputes, and other submissions.
I think someone used my Social Security number
Contact the company or financial institution involved
Call the company’s fraud department using contact information from its official website or a statement—not a number supplied by an unexpected caller or message. Ask it to close or secure the affected account, change its credentials if needed, and explain how to dispute unauthorized transactions. Keep a record of the report and the company’s response.
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Report identity theft to the FTC
Use IdentityTheft.gov to report identity theft. The FTC says the process creates an Identity Theft Report and a recovery plan tailored to the information you provide. Save copies of both. The report can support a request to block identity-theft information from your credit reports; follow the bureaus’ official instructions and retain copies of everything you submit.
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If the issue involves a tax account, benefit, or other government record, contact the agency that administers it through its official website or phone channel and follow its fraud-reporting process. IdentityTheft.gov’s recovery plan may include steps for the affected agency.
A government password or Login.gov credential was exposed
Change the password and any reused passwords
Change the exposed password promptly. If you reused it, change it on every other account where it appears, starting with your email and financial accounts. Those accounts may be used to reset other passwords or contain payment information. The FTC’s breach guidance recommends changing reused passwords.
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If you can access Login.gov, review account activity
For a Login.gov account, sign in through the official Login.gov website and review Account History for unfamiliar devices or sign-ins. Change your password, inspect your authentication methods for anything you do not recognize, and review linked agencies or services for unexpected connections or changes. Contact Login.gov if you find suspicious activity. Use the official Login.gov help and account-protection guidance for current steps.
If you are locked out, use the official recovery route
Use Login.gov’s official help and recovery options. Recovery may depend on which email address and authentication methods you can still access. For an urgent application or benefits issue, contact the partner agency as well.
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Contact the agency that operates the account through its official website or phone number. Login.gov’s instructions do not necessarily apply to state, local, or other federal accounts, which may have different recovery processes.
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Make government accounts harder to take over
Review the authentication methods offered by the affected service and remove any you do not recognize. Where a service supports it, a FIDO2 security key is an optional authentication method. Login.gov lists security keys among its authentication options and notes that they can be more resistant to phishing and theft than some alternatives. Check compatibility before buying one. A key cannot undo SSN exposure or replace password changes, identity-theft reporting, credit protections, or agency recovery.
Never share a password or one-time security code with someone who contacts you unexpectedly. Do not rely on caller ID alone, and avoid links in unsolicited messages; navigate to the agency’s official website yourself.
What if I gave my SSN to a caller?
Follow the SSN-protection steps above, and treat any claim that your number is about to be suspended as a scam. The FTC says, “Your Social Security number is not about to be suspended,” and that “SSA will never call to threaten you or your benefits.” Scammers may spoof caller ID and demand payment by wire transfer, cash, or gift card. Do not pay or call a number the caller provides. See the FTC’s Social Security Administration scam guidance.
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