How do I protect my personal information? Consumer Corner explains

Consumer Investigator Sasha Jones is hitting the streets of South Florida to find out what questions you are burning to know the answers to.

In our series Consumer Corner, NBC6 Responds takes your money questions to the experts.

Each week, we will feature a different consumer question.

Consumer: Aaron Bravo  

Question:  “How do I protect myself from identity theft?”

Expert: Blair Cohen, AuthenticID, Inc.

Answer:

One way to protect your identity is to protect and secure your accounts, according to Blair Cohen with AuthenticID, Inc.

“If at all possible, eliminate passwords from your life. Google and Apple both have made biometric authentication very simple…So wherever possible just eliminate those. You can use biometric authentication and with today’s tools no one can impersonate you,” Cohen said.

He says using apps and operating systems that allow biometric authentication help to eliminate the use of passwords. You can also allow for your device to create and store difficult and complex passwords. If you don’t like these options, he suggests using a password phrase. A sentence that is easy for you to remember but hard for a bad actor to figure out.

Another way to protect your identity from identity fraud is to protect your credit.

“Just put a credit freeze, on all three credit bureaus. If you do that no one can take out an account in your name. You are still going to be vulnerable to things like credit card fraud, but in terms of someone taking out a loan in your name and misusing your good name, it won’t be possible,” Cohen said.

A credit freeze limits your access to your credit report. It prevents creditors from accessing your credit file without your specific consent. To freeze your credit you must contact each major credit bureau individually. A freeze secures your credit file until you lift the freeze.

Creating secure passwords and freezing your credit are two quick and easy ways to help protect yourself from fraud.