GREENSBORO, N.C. — Leaked, hacked, compromised or stolen. Whatever you call it, in the end, it means your personal information is out there and needs to be protected.
The most recent data breach impacts American Express customers. It could be their name, social security number, card number, and expiration dates. There are about 121 million global customers of American Express, 50% of which are based in the U.S. Cardholders need to take action right now.
"Changing your password, which is great cyber hygiene. You should always have a separate password for every single account that you have. And then also, two-factor authentication, which is super important. You should have that for all your accounts," said Stefanie Schappert, CyberNews.
American Express released this statement:
A third-party service provider engaged in numerous merchants experienced unauthorized access to its system. American Express owned or controlled systems were not compromised by this incident.
The best way to protect your financial identity, and we should all be doing that, is to put a security freeze on your credit. This does not impact the use of your credit or debit cards, this only impacts your actual credit file.
You put a security freeze on your credit with each one of the credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union. The freeze is free. It keeps the people who aren't you from opening up new credit cards or loans in your name.
Security Freeze with Credit Bureaus
A Security freeze is free and it keeps the bad guys from opening up accounts. It still allows you, to use your credit cards.
Equifax Security Freeze
P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348//1-800-685-1111
Experian Security Freeze
P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013//1-888-397-3742
TU Protected Consumer Freeze
P.O. Box 380 Woodlyn, PA 19094//1-800-916-8800