Here's how to find out if your Social Security number was included in last week's massive data breach

[SupportSanity]

In case you missed it
2.9 Billion People May Have Been Compromised in National Public Data Breach. Here's What You Need to Know
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143289960

Here’s how to find out if your Social Security number was included in last week’s massive data breach
https://fortune.com/2024/08/19/social-security-number-hack-were-you-included/?utm_source=search&utm_medium=suggested_search&utm_campaign=search_link_clicks

no paywall link:
https://archive.ph/o3Byn

Direct link to the Breached SS# finder to see if yours was one of the ones hat was hacked:
(Note: This site does not ask you for your SS#. It asks for First Name,Last Name, State, Birth Year)
https://npd.pentester.com/

I was informed by another website that my information was breached. But it looks like they didn't get my SS#. Whew!

[enid602]

1. Uncomfortable

I don’t feel comfortable submitting my ss# on that site.

[moonscape]

4. Only asks for name, state, year of birth,

to determine if in breach.

[PSPS]

13. That's still enough to cause troouble. Pass.

[Oopsie Daisy]

44. I'm with you! -- Hard pass!

[SupportSanity]

7. I updated with an explanation

Thanks for pointng this out.
My explanation:
This site does not ask you for your SS#. It asks for First Name,Last Name, State, Birth Year

[PSPS]

14. Even that's enough to cause trouble. Pass.

[RAB910]

12. Don't, the owner of the site is hidden

Registrant Contact Information:
NameRegistration Private
OrganizationDomains By Proxy, LLC
AddressDomainsByProxy.com
Address100 S. Mill Ave, Suite 1600
CityTempe
State / ProvinceArizona
Postal Code85281
CountryUS
Phone[phone]
EmailSelect Contact Domain Holder link at https://www.godaddy.com/whois/results.aspx?domain=pentester.com

https://who.is/whois/pentester.com

[RAB910]

16. Please remove this post. I couldn't verify the owner of the last site you posted a link to

https://who.is/whois/pentester.com

[Abolishinist]

30. Any owner of a web site can pay extra to protect others from knowing their identity.

"Domains by Proxy" offers website owners an effective solution to protect their privacy and enhance the security of their online presence. By masking personal contact information, such as name, address, and phone number, it prevents unauthorized access and potential exploitation.

I personally own a number of webites, for most of them I've chosen to use Domains by Proxy to hide ownership information.

[RAB910]

31. That's not the type of site you want to do business involving your SS number, though

you want to know who you are giving your personal information to

[Brenda]

50. This is the second thread I've seen today sending people to suspect sites.

DUers should be extremely cautious about clicking on links here lately.

Especially if the post talks about extremely urgent or emotional content.

Better to be paranoid than suffer identity theft.

[LeftInTX]

2. I see me. I see my husband. I see one of my sons. Now what?

Hubby says he already knows. Says there isn't anything we can do about it.

[multigraincracker]

9. Might put a hold on your credit

with all 3 credit companies.

[SupportSanity]

10. What to do about it?

First thing:

If you're not already, start using secondary authentication for important sites that you log into, especially bank, credit cards, online shopping.

Secondary authentication will, after you login with username and password, it will then contact your phone (send a text, email) . Within the text or email there will be a numeric code. You'll be required to put in that numeric code before going any further.

I would google "what do i do now that I've been hacked" or something similar to that. I'm sure there's a lot.

Doing nothing would be your worst option.

Also, as noted in one of the responses below, putting a freeze on each of your 3 credit reporting accounts is a good idea. google "how do I put a freeze on my credit reporting accounts" would be a good start.

[lindysalsagal]

19. https://clark.com/credit/credit-freeze-and-thaw-guide/

[lindysalsagal]

20. https://clark.com/credit/credit-freeze-and-thaw-guide/

[lindysalsagal]

21. https://clark.com/credit/credit-freeze-and-thaw-guide/

[moonscape]

3. I'm amazed I passed this one. Put

in names of many of my friends w/ birth year and every single one was in the breach.

Not sure how I got so lucky.

[PSPS]

18. It will say that no matter what you put in. It's just phishing for information so they can sell/misuse it.

[getagrip_already]

28. Dont think so....

It came back with way more info than i gave it, including the last 4 digits of my ss number.

Plus addresses i havent lived at in over 30 years.

[LeftInTX]

32. It's not phishing.

If you sign up for their services, maybe.

I put dead people in and it spewed out their SS#.

[ecstatic]

38. You might want to check other states you've lived in

I've lived in 3+ states and when I put in the third state that's when all these results came up.

[moonscape]

48. I did, still clean! Not sure why. I've

been super careful about SS# for many years, refusing to give except I think to banks and when an entity needs it to report income. Otherwise, never.

Still, I’m sure many are like me and got compromised so will stick with the ‘got lucky’ take. I was in the Equifax breach which is when I locked down my credit.

[Hope22]

6. Probably not going to give out more information

To confirm another hack out of concern that what I give them will complete the missing info……seems Ike SS will be contacting people….

[EverHopeful]

8. Called Equifax to put a freeze on my SS no.

but got a recording saying they weren't open today. Then called Experian and they said the block would apply to all 3 credit reporting agencies and would last 1 year.

Hope that helps. Didn't check to see if my number was part of the current breach but thought it was a good idea given so many new breaches being reported these days.

[minkyboodle78]

11. No Suprise to see myself there

I have had all 3 of my credit accounts frozen since the original Experian hack years and years ago. I highly recommend everyone do it, if you haven't been breached yet you pretty much will be. That's the way I view it. Having the accounts frozen is super easy and it's very easy to unfreeze temporarily when you need to get a card or a loan or something. Instructions here

https://www.usa.gov/credit-freeze

[lindysalsagal]

15. Yup. I'm on there 3 times. But my credit is frozen, and I'm not in the commercial banks.

and I don't bank on my phone at all.

Gotta freeze your credit. https://clark.com/credit/credit-freeze-and-thaw-guide/

It really works. When banks or car dealers tell me to freeze the wrong one (there are 3) it bounces right off and gets rejected. It works when I unfreeze the right one. Everyone needs to freeze their credit.

[RAB910]

17. Please remove this post, I couldn't verify the owner of the last link you posted

https://who.is/whois/pentester.com

[Abolishinist]

25. I see. So, using your methodology, who owns democraticunderground.com?

https://who.is/whois/democraticunderground.com

[RAB910]

33. There is a difference between DU and a site you are giving your personal information away to

I am curious why you are so willing to give your personal information to a complete stranger. One, you have no idea where they are from or who they are or what their name is

[Abolishinist]

35. I'm responding to your claim that because you couldn't verify the owner of the last link you posted

by going to the who.is website the post should be deleted. As I mentioned above, most websites that are heavily used choose to not reveal the owner of the website, which has NOTHING to do with whether or not they are legitimate.

And it appears that the info they require, at least up front, would be of no use to them or anyone.

[PSPS]

22. That's a phishing website. This post should be removed. Those sites are malicious.

[LeftInTX]

24. I did the one with my name, state and birth year.

It showed me. Birth Month and day. Current address. All of my old addresses and last two digits of my SS#.

I did not input my SS#. Birth years are public record.

It's not fishing if you put
First Name, Last Name, State and Year of Birth

[hlthe2b]

41. Well, I just called Experian to ensure all three credit sites have me frozen and they said it was okay

to use that site if you only input name, state and birthdate. They have been getting calls, apparently from people trying to follow up on the big breach announcement. But, they likewise verified that the links to the reporting sites to set up accounts and freeze were valid without malware on that site.

I have both Malwarebytes Premium and the maximum Norton Security system. No issues there either.

That said, I certainly understand your caution.

[RidinWithHarris]

23. Using current info, nothing was found for me, but when I used the last state I lived in...

...since I've only been in Ohio for two years now, a lot of matches came up.

[Arne]

26. I'm on the list a dozen times.

All of the Fl addresses I have lived and older phone numbers.

[marble falls]

27. "2.9 Billion People May Have Been Compromised in National Public Data Breach ..." 2.9 BILLION?!?!

[LeftInTX]

29. My dead parents are on it. It must include old breaches. So is my father in law, who died in 1998.

[hlthe2b]

34. I have Norton Lifelock, but they make you go to every credit agency to freeze credit...

and I didn't want to do so unless I was sure I'd been included (but, guys, the odds are YOU HAVE BEEN)... so, because that site did not ask for ss#, I took a chance. Yup. I'm in it several times with mostly old outdated info, but still--several had AT LEAST my correct last four digits. So, I took the time to go to each of the three credit agencies and froze my credit. I already have something similar in place with my bank/credit union.

It is annoying as hell, but I'd suggest you do so. Time is of the essence.

I want to move to the future, but damn... this crap is not hopeful

[ecstatic]

36. My info has been all over the web for years now

Maybe one day we will have a functioning Congress that can address these issues. Or FTC?

[ecstatic]

37. Also, why can't our FBI pull the sites down?

[OAITW r.2.0]

39. I got one hit for the Avast data breach, which I was aware of.

The name I used for my Avast account was not my actual name and the IP address is not my home IP, probably the VPN address that I used with Avast.

[sinkingfeeling]

40. Can't find myself using 3 states, but did find my son. I tried my current, birth, and longest resident states. I've

lived in 5 other states, should I check those too?

[Buckeyeblue]

42. That last link looks suspicious. I wouldn't enter any info into that one.

[Tribetime]

43. What should you do if it was

[LearnedHand]

45. DO NOT USE: This is a for-profit business

From Pentester's privacy policy (emphasis mine):

Your Consent. By using our System, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of information in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy. By using our System, you should also be aware that any personally identifiable information you submit can be read, collected, or used by other users of the System, and could be used to send you unsolicited messages. We are not responsible for the personally identifiable information you choose to submit through your use of the System.

Here's a Consumer Reports article about how to use Have I Been Pwned instead. That site uses only your email address.

https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics/data-theft/how-to-use-have-i-been-pwned-data-breach-a6598286668/

[uponit7771]

46. I've gone through all of the steps in regards to guarding credit and the credit issuers don't have to

... Adhere to any of that by law

The credit issuers are horrible ass bastards

[Ponietz]

47. What a clusterfuck

The crime rate is going down? Bullshit.
2.9 billion new crimes this past week (just a fraction) and countless more will extrapolate from this.
Predators, scam artists, and pickpockets run amok online.
Honest people scurry like mice to protect themselves but there is no safety.
Some of you run straight into the viper’s mouth as this thread demonstrates.

[intheflow]

49. I'm confused by this.

I guess my SS# was in the breach, but all the references to me date back 30+ years and it seems like none of them have my correct birth date. Not sure why I should worry about it.

[OldBaldy1701E]

51. LOL!

Anyone who dares to use my SS number or my identity is in for a major surprise.

Since I have nothing and I am nothing, it won't help you. It will hinder you. So, go for it.

[Indykatie]

52. I Used The Tool - My Information Was Compromised in the Breach

I felt safe using the tool. It only asks for name, State of residence and date of birth. There was an entry for each address I've lived (3). The tool hides all digits but the last 2 of your social security number.
They recommend you freeze your credit file with all 3 credit agencies so no one can get new credit using your info. This doesn't affect your credit score.