A reported 2.9 billion records were taken last December in the massive National Public Data breach. You can check if your Social Security number was stolen and take steps to protect your information if your personal information was leaked. Here’s how.
According to an August statement from National Public Data — a data broker that sells personal information to private investigators, consumer public record sites, human resources and staffing agencies — “a third-party bad actor” hacked into the data and leaked the stolen information on the dark web. National Public Data obtained the information by scraping nonpublic sources without consent, according to a proposed class action lawsuit.
Here are steps you can take to see if your information was stolen and then protect your Social Security number if your personal data was leaked in the massive data hack. For more information, here are the best identity theft protection services and how to freeze your credit. For more on Social Security, here’s when to expect Social Security check to arrive this month and four ways you can lose your Social Security benefits.
How was my personal information stolen in the National Public Data breach?
According to a National Public Data statement this month, “The incident is believed to have involved a third-party bad actor that was trying to hack into data in late December 2023, with potential leaks of certain data in April 2024 and summer 2024.”
The theft — reportedly by a cybercriminal group by the name of USDoD — may be as large as nearly 3 billion personal records of people and include your name, email address, phone number, Social Security number and mailing addresses.
The exact number of people whose information was stolen is still unknown. Maine’s Attorney General office puts the number at 1.3 million, reportedly based on conversations with the data broker. Troy Hunt of Have I Been Pwned estimates the stolen files includes 134 million unique email addresses.
How to check if your Social Security number was stolen in the National Public Data hack
Two online security companies have put up websites that let you check for free if your Social Security number is part of the stolen store of personal information: One is https://www.npdbreach.com/ from the online privacy company Atlas Privacy; the second is https://npd.pentester.com/ by the Pentester cybersecurity company.
Both lookup tools are easy to use and search for different pieces of information in the stash. Both showed my personal information were stolen in the hack after I searched the different states I’ve lived in.
What’s National Public Data doing to respond to the data theft?
In a statement on the security breach, the company said it is cooperating with law enforcement and governmental investigators and conducting a review of the potentially affected records. For those who had their information stolen, the company said “it will try to notify you if there are further significant developments applicable to you” and recommends you closely monitor your financial accounts for unauthorized activity.
How do I know if my Social Security number was leaked?
While you can’t stop the theft, you can watch your credit reports and financial accounts for unexpected activity to see if your Social Security number and other personal information is being used.
Check if your stolen data has been leaked: To start, check a free site like Have I Been Pwned to see if your email has been leaked as part of a data breach.
Monitor your credit reports: To spot identity theft, request one free credit report a year from each of the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — and look for unfamiliar activity, such as a new account you didn’t open. Watch your credit card and bank statements too for unexpected charges and payments.
Sign up for a credit monitoring service. A credit monitoring service can constantly monitor your credit report on major credit bureaus and alert you when it detects unusual activity. With a monitoring service, you can set fraud alerts that notify you if someone is trying to use your identity to create credit, including someone trying to use your Social Security number. Here are the best identity theft protection services.
I think my Social Security number was stolen. What should I do?
First, if you think your Social Security number has been stolen, know that the Social Security Administration itself can’t do much if someone uses your stolen information to, for example, open a line of credit or get a job. Here’s what you can do.
Head to the Federal Trade Commission’s IdentityTheft.gov and fill out a form to receive a personal recovery plan. This plan walks you through all you need to know about protecting yourself from fraud and…
Read More: Check if Your Social Security Number Is Included in the National Public Data