Suffered a Financial Data Breach - What should you do?

What to do after a financial data breach

If your personal information has been compromised in a financial data breach, you could be at an increased risk of identity theft. Our experts at Evans Hughes think that it’s important to learn what to do after a data breach.

Try to get confirmation of the breach and what sort of information was exposed

So where do you starts? Firstly it is important to get some sort of confirmation of the breach. You may have heard about the breach online or in the news but are not really sure if it has affected you. A good example is the recent Hospital Group Data Breach, when clients have contacted us concerned about what data, if any, has been breached we contacted them straight away. By sending is a Subject Access Request (SAR) you can see exactly what information that company holds on you and what has been compromised.

When we did this we could see no financial data was compromised but all the data was personal medical data and photographs. Evans Hughes could then advise on what to do if you suffered a medical data breach rather than a financial one.

Check what type of data was stolen

Hearing your financial data is what has been breached, leaked or stolen may make you expect the worse. It is important to know what has been taken exactly, for example if it is bank card details then these can be easily changed and replaced by the bank. If it is your National Insurance, data of birth and address then clearly you need to be much more vigilant as this information could be used to scam you.

Any financial breach in which a large amount of sensitive information is exposed could increase the risk of identity theft for months or years to come, often this data is traded on the dark web and sold to criminals.

Strengthen your online logins, passwords and security Q&As

If your financial information has been breached then you should always try and change and upgrade the level of security as this is your most vulnerable time. Perhaps change a password strength from moderate up to high or security questions to something more difficult than your pets name - scammers could get that information from social media. Some of the ways you can strengthen your passwords can include:

• Avoid Personal Information
• Use A Passphrase
• Use Unique Passwords For Each Account
• Consider Using A Password Manager

Stay alert and monitor

If you are a member of the many free credit file checkers then keep a close eye on these. You should be looking for any new credit checks which could suggest that someone is trying to obtain finance in your name.

Should you find that you are the victim of a financial data breach such as the recent data breach at Total Fitness which compromised members personal information, contact our expert team at Evans Hughes who can advise you if you have a claim.