Yahoo! breach a reminder to be careful online

Tips from Better Business Bureau

The recent announcement by Yahoo! that 500 million of its user accounts were breached in a 2014 hacking incident is a great reminder to consumers about practicing safe online behavior, whether you are using an email account, social media or messaging services.

In the Yahoo! breach, stolen information included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth and some passwords and security questions and answers.

There is nothing most consumers can do about a breach that has already occurred, but there are ways to secure your data going forward. You also can check for potential fraud stemming from the breach.

The first thing to do is to change your passwords, security questions and answers. Avoid using obvious passwords or ones that use a birth date or Social Security number. A strong password includes a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols, if possible. Avoid dictionary words, names and foreign words.

Better Business Bureau recommends checking your bank and credit card accounts closely, at least once each month, for any transactions you do not recognize. Report suspicious activity to your bank or credit card issuer.

Consider getting a credit report from annualcreditreport.com, and report any accounts you do not recognize to the three credit bureaus: Transunion, Experian and Equifax. You are entitled to one free report every year from each bureau, so consider getting a report from one bureau now and from the others at times staggered throughout the year.

If you have children, consider getting credit reports for them, too. Hackers often prefer to open accounts in children's names because they previously have not had credit, so their credit reports are free of negative information.

Signs of possible identity theft include:

Unexpected mail about accounts not opened by you.

Credit card charges you never made.

Unexpected collection calls.

Another person's name showing up in your background check or credit report.

If you suspect you have been the victim of identity theft, you should file a report with the police or your state attorney general's office.

For tips on how to protect yourself or to check out a company or charity, go to midmobbb.org or call 573-886-8965. To report a scam, go to bbb.org/scamtracker. For tips on avoiding becoming a victim of scams, go to bbb.org/stlouis/protectyourself.

Sean Spence is the Mid-Missouri regional director for Better Business Bureau.