Dark web monitoring: Useful way to fight identity theft or marketing hype?

News reports tell us its where criminals buy and sell stolen personal information, such as credit card numbers, bank account passwords, even Social Security numbers.

Many people are making false assumptions about that, according to a new survey by the Consumer Federation of America .

The reality is: No one can erase the data that winds up in this underground cyber-marketplace or prevent it from being sold, exchanged or used.

The Consumer Federation of American wants companies that offer these services to do a better job explaining how they work and what they can and cannot do.

Dark web monitoring may be able to alert consumers that their stolen personal information is being offered for sale on the internet, but it cant put the genie back in the bottle.

Neal OFarrell, executive director of the Identify Theft Council, is a long-time critic of credit monitoring services.

Executives from both companies insist their dark web monitoring is a valuable service because it tells people the specific types of personal information thats circulating in the criminal marketplace and how to respond to that.

Dark web alerts can fight data breach fatigue, where people assume they cant do anything to protect themselves, so they dont, said Michael Bruemmer, Experians vice president of data breach resolution.

You can get a free one from each of the big three credit reporting agencies Experian, Equifax and TransUnion every 12 months by going to AnnualCreditReport.com.

When you get the report, look for signs of possible fraud, such as: credit cards or bank accounts you never opened, a change of employer or home address thats not right, or negative information, such as late payment notices, that are wrong.

Original article
Author: Nbcnews

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