This past month has been an unwelcome reminder that identity theft is on the rise. Target and Neiman Marcus are the two high profile retailers whose networks were breached over the holiday season; however at least three other well-known smaller US retailers were breached. Target has already reported that 70 million to 110 million of its customers had their information stolen including credit card numbers, names, addresses, phone numbers and PIN numbers. That is a staggering figure as that represents a third of all American adults on the low end, and is nearly three times as great as the company's original estimate at the high end. Fraud experts said that information stolen from Target's systems quickly flooded the black market.
According to Javelin Strategy, 1 in 4 data breach notification recipients became a victim of identity fraud in 2012. This isn't good news for those affected by the holiday data breaches. Therefore, it is imperative to be proactive to protect yourself. You don't want to spend hours, weeks or even months trying to resolve problems.