What to do if your personal data is stolen
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2025 4:21 am
Make sure the leak information is credible
Recently, scammers have increasingly used phishing schemes, sending messages about compromised recipient data. They manipulate the emotions of the potential victim. It is important to remain calm and analyze the situation.
In most cases, companies, perhaps not immediately, but report the fact of leakage of personal data on the corporate website or through a mailing list. Such cases can be reported by reliable media. Trust only verified sources.
Determine what information was compromised
The accuracy of this assessment affects the next steps. If only an email or phone number was exposed, it’s not that bad. A bigger problem could be a leak of payment information or a home address.
In a situation where the chinese student data package leaked database is not publicly available (for example, it is sold on the black market), assess the possible threats yourself. If personal data is leaked from Yandex.Food or SDEK, you can most likely remember what information you provided when registering or ordering delivery.
Protection of personal data
Source: shutterstock.com
You can also analyze activity on accounts that are associated with a personal data leak. Have you received strange emails? Have there been any attempts to log into your account using your phone number? Perhaps someone tried to make a transaction from your card account? If there is a personal data leak, there is a chance that you will see signs of such activity in applications or through notifications.
It is also important to have an idea of the relevance of the information exposed. The older the information in the compromised database, the lower the risk, especially if you frequently update your passwords.
You should not enter personal data on third-party verification resources.
There are examples when after a large-scale leak of personal data, exposed customer databases were published on the Internet. Such a situation took place with the leak of personal data from Yandex.
Numerous users immediately rushed to check whether their information was in open lists. They entered their names and contact details into services. This is not the way to do it. Attackers can use the situation to supplement their databases or to check the freshness of the collected data.
Be prepared for scam attacks
Following a leak of personal data, you may become a target for calls or letters purporting to be official messages from a bank, government agency, etc.
In such circumstances, standard safety precautions should be followed. Be alert to any unexpected calls, avoid giving out additional information. If the annoying calls continue, you may need to change your number.
Often, attackers offer to delete open personal data for a reward. You should not trust such offers. Even if they fulfill their promise, the information may have already been transferred to other people or sold on underground sites. Thus, you risk losing money and not protecting your personal information.
Update all your passwords (not just the accounts affected by the breach)
You may be using the same passwords for different services. If so, it is recommended to change all the repeated combinations, and not limit yourself to one account.
Setting strong passwords
Source: shutterstock.com
You can assess the level of uniqueness of your passwords, for example, using a special manager in Google Chrome.
If a personal data leak affects information stored by banks, block accounts
Once the attackers have gained access to your financial data, this action would be the most reasonable. Note that if the leak of personal information occurred within Sberbank or another banking institution, they have probably already taken the appropriate steps. Details can be clarified by contacting official sources or customer support.
Recently, scammers have increasingly used phishing schemes, sending messages about compromised recipient data. They manipulate the emotions of the potential victim. It is important to remain calm and analyze the situation.
In most cases, companies, perhaps not immediately, but report the fact of leakage of personal data on the corporate website or through a mailing list. Such cases can be reported by reliable media. Trust only verified sources.
Determine what information was compromised
The accuracy of this assessment affects the next steps. If only an email or phone number was exposed, it’s not that bad. A bigger problem could be a leak of payment information or a home address.
In a situation where the chinese student data package leaked database is not publicly available (for example, it is sold on the black market), assess the possible threats yourself. If personal data is leaked from Yandex.Food or SDEK, you can most likely remember what information you provided when registering or ordering delivery.
Protection of personal data
Source: shutterstock.com
You can also analyze activity on accounts that are associated with a personal data leak. Have you received strange emails? Have there been any attempts to log into your account using your phone number? Perhaps someone tried to make a transaction from your card account? If there is a personal data leak, there is a chance that you will see signs of such activity in applications or through notifications.
It is also important to have an idea of the relevance of the information exposed. The older the information in the compromised database, the lower the risk, especially if you frequently update your passwords.
You should not enter personal data on third-party verification resources.
There are examples when after a large-scale leak of personal data, exposed customer databases were published on the Internet. Such a situation took place with the leak of personal data from Yandex.
Numerous users immediately rushed to check whether their information was in open lists. They entered their names and contact details into services. This is not the way to do it. Attackers can use the situation to supplement their databases or to check the freshness of the collected data.
Be prepared for scam attacks
Following a leak of personal data, you may become a target for calls or letters purporting to be official messages from a bank, government agency, etc.
In such circumstances, standard safety precautions should be followed. Be alert to any unexpected calls, avoid giving out additional information. If the annoying calls continue, you may need to change your number.
Often, attackers offer to delete open personal data for a reward. You should not trust such offers. Even if they fulfill their promise, the information may have already been transferred to other people or sold on underground sites. Thus, you risk losing money and not protecting your personal information.
Update all your passwords (not just the accounts affected by the breach)
You may be using the same passwords for different services. If so, it is recommended to change all the repeated combinations, and not limit yourself to one account.
Setting strong passwords
Source: shutterstock.com
You can assess the level of uniqueness of your passwords, for example, using a special manager in Google Chrome.
If a personal data leak affects information stored by banks, block accounts
Once the attackers have gained access to your financial data, this action would be the most reasonable. Note that if the leak of personal information occurred within Sberbank or another banking institution, they have probably already taken the appropriate steps. Details can be clarified by contacting official sources or customer support.