Data Breaches: Action Steps You Can Take to Protect Your Data

Hearing about a data breach from a company you trusted can be very anxiety-inducing.

Worrying thoughts about whether or not your personal information got stolen, if criminals will use your credit or debit card numbers or what your next steps should be can overwhelm you.

The bad news is that you could become a victim of identity theft or fraud, which happens when stolen data is used to make purchases or take out a loan in your name.

While a data breach can expose sensitive customer information, it does not necessarily mean you will become a victim. This occurs when such information is either stolen or accidentally revealed, but the actual use of the data is not guaranteed.

At a minimum, take precautions if a company notifies you of a breach or if you see it reported in the news.

Stolen or lost data may never be used because it has either been encrypted and is inaccessible to the criminals, or they see no value in it.

Our PACU fraud specialists recommend our members do the following in case of a data breach:

• Check your credit reports and PACU accounts regularly for unusual activity. You can monitor these accounts anytime, day or night, with online and mobile banking.  

• Consider a credit freeze.
• Report unusual activity to PACU.
• Report unusual activity to the FTC and/or the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at FTC.gov or IC3.gov.

Our specialists prioritize your financial well-being at a trusted credit union like PACU. We work hard to monitor and detect suspicious activity on your account, notify you quickly and take steps to help restore any fraudulent funds spent.

Keep this in mind when you hear about a data breach: It doesn’t necessarily mean you will become an identity theft victim, but it does mean you should take precautions to protect yourself.