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I work in infosec consulting and reversing for 15 years. My identity has been compromised numerous times via OPM, Equifax, and Home Depot, just to name a few. I

I work in infosec consulting and reversing for 15 years. My identity has been compromised numerous times via OPM, Equifax, and Home Depot, just to name a few. I just don’t care about emailing sensitive docs anymore. I find an alternative if possible, which usually it works. I put in some effort. But realize emailed financial docs aren’t likely how you get owned. It doesn’t feel great, but it is what it is. E: also, almost everyone I’ve asked will delete the documents after you try and fail to set up an expedient file share. Also, password protected zip files in Dropbox are usually good enough for most everyone and are a very simple system. Just make sure you use modern zip protection and not old crappy Zip crypto :)

waheoo 6y ago
Compromised or stolen? Identity theft can fuck you indefinitely.
- bitexploder 6y ago
  Identity theft happened to me once from another person with my same name using my identity to run up credit. It's not that hard to fix, it just takes fighting bureaucracy. They got my info from some lender somehow getting my data and giving it to them. Someone's email spool getting compromised and that leading to identity theft is such a smaller concern compared to all these data warehouses just leaking your data.
- weird-eye-issue 6y ago
  Maybe if it goes unnoticed for several years... But even then indefinitely sounds like a stretch. I've personally had my identity stolen last year and they got a car loan, insurance, and bought a couple iPhones and lines with two different providers. It happened in the month I was closing on my house and getting a mortgage. Yeah it was a bit of a pain but some phone calls, a police report, notarization, and snail mail later and it is off my record and my credit score went right back over 800. Also I was still able to get the mortgage even with it going on.
  - croutonwagon 6y ago
    You can also lock your credit down with the main agencies. I do this during normal times and only unlock when I know I need to secure a new line (such as a car loan or moving) We don’t chnage credit cards hardly ever. But would need to do it for that too
    - weird-eye-issue 6y ago
      You better believe I have my credit reports locked now and for anybody reading this I recommend you go do this now if you haven't already (it is free and easy). I've had to unlock them a few times and I can unlock all three in under 5 minutes. I also have a fraud alert on my reports now which was only slightly inconvenient when getting utilities because I had to go in person to verify myself (utility companies don't report to credit agencies afaik but they do some sort of identity check through them).
      - themeiguoren 6y ago
        I’ll also add that it’s more convenient than I expected - the three credit bureaus all let you unlock your file temporarily up until a specified date, after which it will re-lock without you having to log back in.
  - therealdrag0 6y ago
    It sounds like you cleaned up one event, but your identity is still owned right, so can’t they buy stuff in your name again? Or how does that work?
    - weird-eye-issue 6y ago
      I have freezes and fraud alerts on my credit reports so in reality they can't really do anything (unless they also had access to my email, physical address, phone, and the PIN I used to freeze them)
    - bitexploder 6y ago

waheoo 6y ago

Compromised or stolen? Identity theft can fuck you indefinitely.

bitexploder 6y ago
Identity theft happened to me once from another person with my same name using my identity to run up credit. It's not that hard to fix, it just takes fighting bureaucracy. They got my info from some lender somehow getting my data and giving it to them. Someone's email spool getting compromised and that leading to identity theft is such a smaller concern compared to all these data warehouses just leaking your data.
weird-eye-issue 6y ago
Maybe if it goes unnoticed for several years... But even then indefinitely sounds like a stretch. I've personally had my identity stolen last year and they got a car loan, insurance, and bought a couple iPhones and lines with two different providers. It happened in the month I was closing on my house and getting a mortgage. Yeah it was a bit of a pain but some phone calls, a police report, notarization, and snail mail later and it is off my record and my credit score went right back over 800. Also I was still able to get the mortgage even with it going on.
- croutonwagon 6y ago
  You can also lock your credit down with the main agencies. I do this during normal times and only unlock when I know I need to secure a new line (such as a car loan or moving) We don’t chnage credit cards hardly ever. But would need to do it for that too
  - weird-eye-issue 6y ago
    You better believe I have my credit reports locked now and for anybody reading this I recommend you go do this now if you haven't already (it is free and easy). I've had to unlock them a few times and I can unlock all three in under 5 minutes. I also have a fraud alert on my reports now which was only slightly inconvenient when getting utilities because I had to go in person to verify myself (utility companies don't report to credit agencies afaik but they do some sort of identity check through them).
    - themeiguoren 6y ago
      I’ll also add that it’s more convenient than I expected - the three credit bureaus all let you unlock your file temporarily up until a specified date, after which it will re-lock without you having to log back in.
- therealdrag0 6y ago
  It sounds like you cleaned up one event, but your identity is still owned right, so can’t they buy stuff in your name again? Or how does that work?
  - weird-eye-issue 6y ago
    I have freezes and fraud alerts on my credit reports so in reality they can't really do anything (unless they also had access to my email, physical address, phone, and the PIN I used to freeze them)
  - bitexploder 6y ago