Lessons for Consumers After the TJX Data Breach

Recently, the news surrounding the TJX Companies, Inc. and the leak of personal customer information has been dire. The company first reported in January that personal information of its customers had been stolen between May 2006 and January 2007. It affected customers who completed credit and debit card transactions in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada at its stores including Home Goods, Marhsalls, and T.J. Maxx. And while consumers were stewing about the company taking so long to disclose the breach, TJX announced that the data theft dated as far back as July 2005.

As severe as the data breach has been for TJX, the company is hardly the only organization that has suffered from an embarrassing loss of its customers' personal information. And these types of data thefts are hardly limited to retail companies. UCLA announced that 800,000 records were compromised when a hacker bypassed security features and tapped into an institution database. And in Austin, TX, a thief obtained a laptop from a Seton Healthcare Network employee that contained 7,800 records with social security numbers and birth dates of patients.

And truthfully, these are just a few instances when many more similar circumstances have already occurred and possibly incidents that the general public doesn't know about yet. The lesson here for consumers is that we have to protect ourselves as much as possible. While incidences of data theft from companies are out of the hands of individual consumers, there are still preventative steps you can take to minimize your risk when your personal financial information is stolen.

Open Your Mail

It seems obvious, but when you receive information from financial institutions by mail, whether it is your bank, a creditor whom you have a business relationship with, a solicitation or invoice, read carefully the information in the letter.

Look for inconsistencies in your credit card and bank statements.

If you receive an unexpected communication from a creditor, carefully read the information and find out why it was sent to you. A denial of credit from a credit card company is a clear reason for concern if you didn't apply for the credit card.

Also, if monthly statements do not arrive as expected, that is another possible indication of suspicious activity.

Take Advantage of Online Access of Your Accounts

Waiting until the mail arrives is no longer enough. Weekly checks of your accounts using online access (which is available at no cost for most credit cards and bank accounts these days) is essential. Current balances and recent purchases are usually updated immediately in real time, and you can typically check your account 24 hours a day. In terms of detection, this is an effective means of monitoring your account activity and looking for discrepancies.

Check Your Credit Report

You are entitled to one free credit report from each major bureau, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, each year. Don't order your free credit report from all three companies at the same time. Pick one credit bureau every four months and pull the report just from that company. That way, you get three credit reports a year at no cost. You can order the reports for free from www.annualcreditreport.com/

While it is true that consumers cannot protect themselves from data breaches at companies we do business with, it is also true that we can take steps to protect ourselves as much as possible. That means being diligent with reviewing credit card and bank statements, and taking advantage of free opportunities to monitor our financial accounts. Get in the habit of these defensive practices and you can keep the damage to a minimum when your personal financial information is stolen through no fault of your own.

Article Source: http://www.content.onlypunjab.com

--- Andrew Marx writes a daily column on current events published at news.smartremarx.com/ Every week, he writes in-depth features on topics including personal finance and higher education. Read more of his work at features.smartremarx.com/

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