How To Keep Your Identity & Accounts Safe From Scammers & Thieves 

Sorry to hear that happened. You should add freezing credit to the list - completely free. Takes probably 10 minutes to do initially (PER BUREAU - need to do all 3 - transunion, equifax, experian). After you have it setup up though takes only a few minutes to unfreeze when it is needed. If you're unfamiliar basically it doesn't allow any new credit applications to be opened until it is unfrozen. So you do have to unfreeze it before you apply for new credit (card, car, mortgage, occasionally a job background check). Completely free now (used to cost a few years ago when I started using it but regulations now require it to be free.) Just google freeze experian (each credit bureau- remember to do all 3) and well worth it. Even if someone has all your info they can't do anything, you can unfreeze it for just a few days at a time when you're actually applying for new credit and it automatically refreezes after the dates you say you want it unfrozen.

You from the dmv area? 1:42

why you trying to make it hard for some poor third world guy to feed his impoverished family? do you get calls from Mariott hotels for free vacation in Mexico?

Awesome content! 👍🏼

Thanks..!

PLEASE DON'T COPYRIGHT ME GRAHAM I LOVE YOU

Keep your email password secured and change it every 3 months

It was hes Ex lol

My credit is frozen, you need to speak to me before anything!

Just did what you said. Thanks!

How about the horrible human beings that open up cards in their children’s names only to ruin their credit by the age of 10

did you have to change your Social?

This is the reason why I am paying for Lifelock, money well spent.

They actually block you if you have apply for to many credits cards

I have missed seeing your videos.

I've been wondering what happened to you!! I haven't seen your stiulations check updates in a long time. I haven't seen any video's from you.

Best security software for virus is ESET. Small footprint. Found virus that norton did not and could not clean up

You been working out more. Looks good. I'm in IT. Anyone especially in your field should have at least a VPN, security dongle and if possible use a pc with linux OS. Stay away from windows and apple OS.

Sorry to hear this. Fortunately they were denied, and hopefully they get caught. I had my identity stolen from a gas station and grocery store when I used a debit card 5 years ago. I had my whole bank account wiped out twice. Fortunately i got it back, but the whole process took a week.

You actually said you are good looking 😉! So how do you like Lifelock

Fun fact: Koreans don't like black people or Americans, now you know

What do you expect, you have the same last name of a million Koreans

Useful tips! Glad everything turned out okay!

You don't have a firewall through your modem? You should REALLY consider a separate router with a built-in firewall. In ADDITION to your software firewall. No wonder...

Scary. I’m sorry 😔

Doesn’t VPN interfere with cash back site such as Rakutun ?

Brian that is a shame. A family member messed my credit up years ago. Thanks for the tips. I use a vpn for work, but haven’t considered one for my personal internet surfing.

Great info Brian thanks!

Wow nice 👍 help me please

#DMV!!!

This happened to me last year. Caught it quickly enough to stop them in their tracks but it was still a huge hassle getting the money back and resetting EVERYTHING. Since then everything has a different password, each of my credit reports are frozen, and I opt to hide my email with Apple sign in whenever possible. People definitely need to take online security more seriously because you never think it could happen to you until it does.

@brian Jung merry Christmas sorry this happened stay strong brother

That’s crazy bro wish u the best

LastPass isn’t working for me 😐

What about freezing your credit at each bureau? Whenever I apply to a new credit card I will lift the freeze temporarily for one or two days and then it locks again.

It’s insane how often this happens. Be careful out there guys.

I am so sorry to hear what you have gone through. Thank you 🙏 for sharing all the information so we could use these sources to avoid what you went through. I enjoy watching your videos and I thank you for creating them! Wishing you a safe,successful,prosperous and healthy New Year 🎉ahead! Take Good Care 🙂

if your using Instagram you should stop. They now have access to everything on your phone including camera microphone and all you do on your phone. If you use it on your computer they now have access to all your accounts username too everything you do on your phone computer is all Instagrams check the terms of service. I no longer use them

I have a credit freeze

Sorry to hear this happened. I use credit freezes. It sucks because I can't get offers from banks I don't bank with and there is an extra step when applying for credit but it is worth it. Also I would recommend using prefixes on common security questions. So instead of "What is your mother's maiden name?" "Smith" do something like "XXXX_Smith". And for those who don't want to use a password generator. Length matters! Using a 16+ character string, like song lyrics is far more secure than 8 random characters.

Good to know that the VPN Internet condom hasn't affected Brian's performance! Great info to keep us all safe online. For once, it was actually a good thing "you" got denied for all those cards

Yo my main business account was hacked last month. Bank froze everything. I still have it frozen for my safety. Just going to keep it that way til the next year

How did they get your info that’s what I want to know

I am so sorry about what happened. Did you really purchase and signed up for all of these programs? It's a bit expensive for many of us. What are your top three items would you recommend for the best security for those on a budget? I heardof Lifelock ($9.99), VPN - I signed up with TYT Young Turks, and maybe I will get the security key. Where can I get the security key (Amazon, Walmart)? Happy Holidays, and again, sorry!

Wow..

Maybe a family member

Awww. Sorry to hear that. I had the same thing happen years ago, social media, emails, etc.

Ugh this sucks:(. I have a similar service which is offered through my Discover accounts

Security is a great investment 😉

Lifelock is great but it is not perfect. I opened a second amex account and lifelock did not pick up the application. I have a one year promo pricing for lifelock's premium service but I will likely switch over to MyFICO when that promo pricing is up in a few months.

Thanks super info.

Brian sorry to have this happen to you. And you folks thought computers were going to make life easier. I know, all in the name of progress. Prior to 1985, we didn't have to deal with this nonsense, unless someone in the doctor's office physically stole your file. Let me add, stop using your phone to check banking information and accounts, especially an Android device. Those things have more holes than Swiss cheese. I know is convenient, but risky. Stop giving Google and Apple your credit cards, for the convenience of NFC.

Glad them Internet, sucka's couldnt fade u. Authenticator, is the most‼

Hurrah 🎉

In response to Dereks' pinned comment (and a few others). I had a FRAUD ALERT placed on my credit report because someone was able to open a cellphone account in my name with AT&T at a Walmart in NC ( I live in CA) and I was notified of this the following day.(3-1-2020) I reached out to AT&T and they notified all 3 bureaus. Now I just have to go through one more hoop when opening an account. So the would be thief, inadvertently, created an extra layer of protection for me for one year, which I actually have been able to extend for another year. A free service. Sorry you had to go through this experience, Brian. It's a difficult way to learn.

Brian is so handsome

Never knew you was from the dmv

📝

Next video do content about your computer setup? Is it all custom? Pre built? Softwares you use? Would be cool to see!

Sorry Brother...hate that bc you've been working so hard

I had mine stolen too! Filed taxes in July and found out someone had already filed for my social security number in February. I feel your pain dude!!

If you do your taxes with turbo tax they have offer IDnotify which is another identity protection plan you can get. It takes money from your tax return (I believe it was $50-75 for me) and you get protection all year instead of a monthly payment. It has reassured me from so much worried when I think someone has my information

Sorry that this happened to you. The security information you shared is amazing!!!

This is why MFA is so important

Merry Christmas 🎅

Damn brodie

I hate that this happened to you.

I 2nd Surfshark, cheap and probably one of the best VPN.

Or could install Linux. There is almost no malware on Linux. 13:10

Brian, thank you for sharing your story. It is sometime difficult to get people to understand that CyberSecurity is a serious concern. You did a great service and i agree with each of your recommendations. People do need to be aware of their individual setups and match the product brand to their circumstances, but each of the products you mentioned are top-level. I shared your video on my FB page, so hopefully more people will see it. Again, thanks for sharing! ( facebook.com/FordComputingServices )

Super informative a really helpful. Appreciate you sharing and glad everything worked out alright!

This smelling like 🧢 nowadays you get 3 push notifications and an email when someone try’s to pull ur credit + highly doubt every single app denied at least 1 or 2 would’ve gone through lol

Thanks for sharing. I’ve been doing a lot of online shopping lately. Really need to start thinking about this stuff.

Do you know if capital one allows you to add a diff bonus if you didn’t use the first one yet?

I find this story, very strange...all my credit monitoring apps alerts within minutes of my credit being pulled...so for you to only find out by mail is strange, when I’m sure a guy like you monitors your credit, sound more like a cautionary tale and not something you your self has experience personal 🤷🏾‍♂️

Just a heads-up the hackers are watching now. Don't give away all of your secrets. These hackers are literally just kids. At least most of them are.

Brian, your *"credit identity"* wasn't the only thing that was stolen, here. *You actually have five (5) "identities" out there on the market* that you need to be aware of, and proactively safeguard, as we speak, from now on: 1) Credit / Financial Identity 2) Character/ Criminal Identity 3) Medical Records / History Identity 4) Driver's License / Passport Identity 5) Social Security / Citizen Status Identity Only a company such as Kroll can and will restore any one of these "identities" back to pre-theft status. Google: Kroll Identity Theft Shield It takes an expert to steal your identity....so why shouldn't it take a team of experts, or better yet, a global risk consulting firm of experts, to get it back?...

You worked at the DMV? My wife was a victim of identity theft.

Thanks I did turn my firewall on. Glad u didn’t lose anything.lessson learned.

Auh Brian this is horrible! I’m so sorry ! 🙏🏼✝️☹️😞😳 happened to me and by my health insurance breach totally disgraceful

wow just wow... You my friend, you are a Jedi master

Thanks so much for your videos and this content is super valuable. I am happy that you destroyed the criminals who tried to steal your money Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year for you and your loved ones. You have many of us who owe you big time for your content.

The thing that frustrates me the most about 2 factor authentication is that banks are notorious for offering texting ONLY as 2 factor authentication. As we already know, it's barely an inconvenience to get your phone SIM card duplicated and have someone else access your text messages. Banks need to switch to TOTP 2 factor authentication (the thing that Brian talked about that gives you a code that changes every 30 seconds) AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

This made me sad, but also I am glad you acted quick.

I have my credit frozen with experian equifax & trans

I'm glad nothing worse happened but also confused by two aspects. If your checking account information was tapped the one day, you went to mail box and saw all these denial letters; that's a terribly quick turn around for a mailed letter of denial of credit. Furthermore, CreditKarma and CreditWise and Experian all have notifications forced to you about new credit report activity. When I applied for a new line of credit I got instant emails inquiring "Was this you?" without having to go through the other suggestions of other commentators of keeping credit account frozen. How was it not forced to you by one of those methods before a business checking breach notification? Thirteen attempts for credit should have sparked an alter to you from one of those systems and I believe you've mentioned using CreditKarma before. :/ Like I said tho glad nothing worse happened. Take care, sir. Best to your non-hard core gamer, good looking Korean American DMV living self. :D lol It also kind of "scares" me the last thing that seems to have been targeted was your business checking if they applied for all these accounts first. :/ Anyhow, best to you, sir. Thank you for reading.

A family member of mine had their identity stolen. Ruined their credit for years, even though they filed a police report, and disputed everything multiple times. Now the case is going to court to get everything removed.

I can not stress this enough. A vpn is extremely valuable but don't just go downloading any free one. They are free for a reason, they log all your data. So just pay the small price for a good vpn that does not log your data, and also do not use one that is based out of the United States. That is just a bad decision. Go to r/privacy and find a good vpn that community trusts.

Freeze your credit!

😂 the credit card denial was the best

You didn’t freeze your credit with the three bureaus? 1Password and Yubico YubiKey 5 NFC System security key are awesome

Wow, this is one of the best IRitem clips I've seen from your channel.

That’s so scary. Also I’m sure because you’re in the spotlight it makes you even more vulnerable.

Security is everything-🙏🏿 for sharing

Last year someone broke into my computer and ran up my my credit cards. It took me about a year to recover. I use best buy security now.

Thanks for sharing if they got you they can get me.

Thanks Brian! Sucks that this happened. Btw when you get life lock + Rakuten, do you know if the cash back applies on the monthly fee for a limited period?

Got that beat. I haven't had credit since 1985. So there is no credit bureau record to approve. Automatic denial. Plus I have been living outside the US the last 8 years. Nothing I have financially is present in the US. G-mail is a laugh. I use Protonmail out of Switzerland secure and encrypted. And I use the Brace Browser. I was US Army trained in Cryptography. Not even US Government agencies mess with me unless they care to waste upwards of $150,000 in the attempt.

Thank you for the info

This happened to me last year, I found out through a random email that I was about to junk that Someone got an Auto loan through Capitol One Auto Finance using my identity for a Mercedes CLK in Illinois. I found about 15 Auto Finance Inquiries and a Discover Card opened in my name. I was able to get all of it closed got everything taken off and my Credit Score is back in the 750+ Area.