You probably heard that Equifax was just hacked — and there’s a 75% chance you’re affected.
In fact, 6 out of 6 Wealth Factory employees who used Equifax’s “were you hacked” tool got this notice:
Note: we were going to include a link to the Equifax checker, but we’ve since found that Equifax buried fine print in the use of their tool: namely, that by using their tool to see if you were affected, you waive your right to participating in a class action lawsuit. According to Bloomberg, federal lawmakers and a state attorney general have gotten involved to condemn Equifax for this arbitration clause. So we’ll leave the link out for now.
These Threats Are Only Going to Get Worse…
Equifax is not alone.
The US government (including the IRS database) was recently hacked.
Verizon was hacked. Yahoo was hacked. Target was hacked.
The list goes on and on.
Which means thieves right now likely have access to your name, birth date, driver’s license number, and address.
Why is this important?
According to security expert Marc Goodman, author of Futurecrimes and Senior Advisor to Interpol…
“Theft of personally identifiable information is a gateway crime that leads to any number of other criminal offenses such as financial fraud, insurance fraud, tax fraud, welfare fraud, illegal immigration, and even terrorist finance.”
Simply put, these thieves can match up information from all these different breaches to access your bank accounts, credit card info, tax returns, investment accounts, and more.
So it pays to keep your information secure.
And whatever you do, please…
Don’t ignore these threats
Because doing nothing could mean you’re in for some nasty surprises.
For example, imagine applying for a mortgage and finding your credit has been annihilated…
Or trying to pay for a business dinner with a big client only to have all your credit cards denied…
Or logging into your bank or brokerage account and finding it emptied out with a $0 balance.
This is not science fiction.
These things have happened to honest hard-working people just like you.
These threats are especially devastating to business owners
Since our main mission at Wealth Factory is to help small business owners build and secure their wealth, we feel it’s our duty to share these warnings from industry experts:
“Cyberthieves steal hundreds of millions of dollars a year from the bank accounts of U.S. businesses. And many business owners are surprised to find out their bank is not obliged to make them whole.” – NPR
“No one is immune from cyber crime.” – Verizon
“No technology is 100% secure.” – Goldman Sachs
“62% of cyber breach victims are small/medium sized businesses, and the average cost of a breach is $3.79 million.” – TechCrunch
Worst of all, the most vulnerable businesses are single owner and family businesses.
Imagine a family-run business doing business for generations… here one day, closed the next.
All because they didn’t take some simple protective measures.
How to avoid having your wealth wiped out
There’s no need to wipe out your wealth because of a simple security error.
Now, it may seem overwhelming at first trying to secure your wealth from cyber hackers and financial predators.
Still, there are a few simple steps you can take to keep the bad guys at bay.
We’ve put together a special guide with a quick list of action items.
The guide is free of charge to help you easily navigate through all the complexities.
It includes tips you should consider implementing right away, including:
- Requesting a credit freeze
- Educating your kids, who actually run a high risk of identity theft
- Considering cybersecurity insurance to protect your own business from a data breach (the average total cost of a data breach is $3.62 million according to a June 2017 study sponsored by IBM
- Checking your accounts weekly for suspicious activity
- Implementing 2-factor authentication on your important accounts
- And more…
Using this guide gives you a great start at securing your wealth.
Build the life you love,
The Builders at Wealth Factory
