Identity Theft - best prevention / monitoring

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snnet

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#311668 5-Feb-2024 22:19

Hi,

So I keep getting alerts from places that "something doesn't look right" with several accounts, including places I've not used for many years like laybuy.com - I try to follow instructions in the e-mail to prove who I am (I know full well of the URL masquerading going on - this was definitely a legitimate e-mail) - it didn't ask any password details anyway, only last four digits of my cellphone but no SMS arrived (this has happened recently with something else as well)

Wondering if anyone has suggestions for a good identity monitoring/protection service? I've been using ClearScore but these fairly frequent e-mails suggesting someone is impersonating me is getting a bit alarming - had one the other day from Cisco asking how my recent experience was but I haven't had contact with them for many many years.

I've got 2FA turned on for most important places that allow it, and I run Malwarebytes Premium, but wonder if there's more I could be doing. Leaning toward changing login e-mail addresses to try and disrupt any leaked info attempts as well but I've done this before and they always seem to catch up.

Did a fresh OS install a few weeks back just to be sure as well

Is there a service like Aura that is made to work in NZ? Do people run VPNs for day to day browsing, and does this interfere with streaming services?

TIA

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#3191326 5-Feb-2024 22:23

Sounds like you've used the same password for multiple services, one has been breached and bad actors are trying said password on other services.

snnet

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#3191328 5-Feb-2024 22:30

lxsw20:

Sounds like you've used the same password for multiple services, one has been breached and bad actors are trying said password on other services.

Yeah that's possible with Laybuy given the amount of time that's passed since I used it and it went overlooked by me, but other places this isn't the case

MadEngineer

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#3191335 5-Feb-2024 23:19

Get a credit lock placed on your name and a credit report also.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

ANglEAUT

altered-ego
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#3191336 5-Feb-2024 23:25

snnet: ... Leaning toward changing login e-mail addresses to try and disrupt any leaked info attempts as well ...

Check all of your email addresses at https://haveibeenpwned.com/. Also, check your passwords at https://haveibeenpwned.com/Passwords

Sorry, no suggestions for active monitoring.

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mattwnz

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#3191337 5-Feb-2024 23:31

snnet:

laybuy.com - I try to follow instructions in the e-mail to prove who I am (I know full well of the URL masquerading going on - this was definitely a legitimate e-mail) - it didn't ask any password details anyway, only last four digits of my cellphone but no SMS arrived (this has happened recently with something else as well)

I got one of these Laybuy emails tonight. Did you get it tonight as well and has anyone else got one? I wasn't sure if it was a phishing email or not as it asked to click on a link which IMO is not good to have a clickable link like that in an email. This email looked legit though with the URL looking correct in the link but I didn't use it, I went directly to the website instead. But I wondered if it wasn't an issue with Laybuys systems so I was looking to see if anyone else had got one tonight. I did think it was odd that in order to log in I needed to hold down a button for a period of time, and then it failed to proceed to the next screen. Never had to do that with a website before, so it looks to be an automated system to prevent bots logging in. I was going to email them about it, as I recall changing my password last year to a very long secure password, as they have no log in the account showing login history or anything But even my previous password was automatically generated and long and not reused and I never reuse passwords due to them being automatically generated.

I think one idea is have a unique email address for anything you signup to. With gmail you can add +anything to the end of the gmail address. eg yourname+anything@gmail.com , and it will go into your inbox.

snnet

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#3191339 5-Feb-2024 23:57

Thanks for all the replies -- I have used haveibeenpwned and use it for domain e-mail monitoring also. Oddly the address associated with Laybuy does not come up as being in any lists - and yes, @mattwnz the e-mail from them arrived tonight. Their 2FA by SMS doesn't work for me to check things, perhaps that one is a bulk check on inactive accounts? I try and recover the password and get told they don't operate in my location or suggest that I'm using a VPN (I'm not)

I did come across the credit lock option, will look into that, thanks. Looks like I'll just have to keep up with ClearScore each time they have a new report ready for me in terms of active monitoring. I know Norton have something but I'm reluctant to use their services.

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mattwnz

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#3191340 6-Feb-2024 00:05

I think the fact that we both got the email tonight could indicate something is up at their end, as I suspect we aren't the only ones. I did get it to text me my verification number to allow me to reset my password. I tried to remove my credit card from their system but it wouldn't allow me as it said I cant remove the default card, but luckily it is an old one so no longer valid. Hopefully they will communicate with customers tomorrow as it could be something as simple as a bug or a problem during a software upgrade etc.

mattwnz

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#3191343 6-Feb-2024 01:10

I noticed a post on facebook from someone with the same issue who pointed people to this page with people who have had the same issue tonight https://nz.trustpilot.com/review/laybuy.com?sort=recency

freitasm

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#3191345 6-Feb-2024 04:29

Whoa. Something is up. So many reviews posted in the last few hours.

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K8Toledo

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#3191353 6-Feb-2024 07:43

freitasm: Whoa. Something is up. So many reviews posted in the last few hours.

Phishing attack?

Haha this review doesn't look fake.....:D

snnet

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#3191369 6-Feb-2024 09:35

Yeah, definitely something going on there! I did finally get an e-mail to reset the password which I did but I still get the VPN error when logging in. Oh well, not a biggie I guess, I'm sure anything they have is expired by now anyway. On a side note I got a large amount of notifications and SMS this morning all at once from a lot of places, so something was going on with my phone at the same time it seems!

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ANglEAUT

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#3191380 6-Feb-2024 10:46

MadEngineer: Get a credit lock placed on your name and a credit report also.

When I looked into this option last year, the credit reporting agencies would only implement the lock for 6 months & it would then silently lapse. You would have to re-request a lock again.

Has anyone got more info on this?

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heavenlywild

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#3191382 6-Feb-2024 10:49

How do you get a credit lock? I take it to mean no one, including yourself, would be able to use your name to get credit from anyone? Or from specific agencies?

MadEngineer

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#3191383 6-Feb-2024 10:51

ANglEAUT:

MadEngineer: Get a credit lock placed on your name and a credit report also.

When I looked into this option last year, the credit reporting agencies would only implement the lock for 6 months & it would then silently lapse. You would have to re-request a lock again.

Has anyone got more info on this?

^ that's normal.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

MadEngineer

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#3191384 6-Feb-2024 10:55

heavenlywild:

How do you get a credit lock? I take it to mean no one, including yourself, would be able to use your name to get credit from anyone? Or from specific agencies?

A PIN gets put on your account if access is required. Too bad this isn't the default behavior where you could get something akin to a 2FA request to allow it to be opened.

My Credit Report Freeze July 2022 (centrix.co.nz)

I was also under the impression that if you placed a lock with any of the agencies that this was shared with the others but I'm not seeing that info.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

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