If you receive an email or notification from a company with whom you have an account that your SSN was compromised, your SSN may be on the dark web. Your SSN qualifies as PII, but PII can also include your name, birthday, driver’s license number, bank account information or medical records. If your SSN was found on the dark web, you are most likely concerned about your identity being stolen. You may be concerned if your Social Security number (SSN) was found on the dark web following the recent breach that, according to CNBC, exposed almost three billion SSNs. PureVPN’s Dark Web Monitoring continuously scans multiple dark web sources for your phone number. Join a family of over 3 million users worldwide who rely on PureVPN for secure, private, and barrier-free internet access.
Apps like Burner allow you to access every notification sent to your second number on your main phone so if you do need to receive verification codes or you want to answer legitimate calls, you easily can. A second number is a great security measure to take when strategizing about how to remove your phone number from the dark web. If your phone is linked to your account number and they are able to log in, they now have your phone number, as well. If you notice you’re logged out of a number of your accounts, this may indicate that someone has tried very hard to log in, but has been unsuccessful.
You can request a copy of your credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com. Although you should regularly monitor your credit reports for suspicious activity, you should review your credit reports – especially if you believe your SSN has been compromised. Once you’ve entered your information, the dark web scan tool relies on its database of billions of PII exposed from data breaches to determine if your PII is on the dark web. Companies typically send letters or notifications to their customers whose Personally Identifiable Information (PII) was exposed during a data breach. Continue reading to learn how to tell if your SSN is on the dark web and how to protect your privacy and identity.
Check Your Credit Reports And Bank Statements
We’ve prepared detailed guides for you to do this yourself, but you might find an automated personal information removal service like Incogni to be well worth the outlay. You can get your personal data off of these sites by manually going through each company’s opt-out procedure. Search online for your name, phone number, and address and see what comes up. There’s likely already a ton of your sensitive data floating around online. Knowing that your phone number is now public (whether because of the dark web or people search sites and other data brokers), you should be particularly wary of calls and texts from unknown numbers. Check your bank account or bank accounts for suspicious activity.
Target You With Phone Scams And Phishing Calls
If your email or other personal information leaks on the dark web, it’s likely only a matter of time before cybercriminals try to exploit it. The best course of action is to take steps to protect yourself and minimize the risk of harm. Unfortunately, once your phone number is on the dark web, it’s difficult to remove it. Phishing is a very popular method of gathering email addresses, passwords, and other valuable information that can be sold on the darknet.
FAQs About Phone Numbers Found On The Dark Web
To avoid issues in the future, make sure to change your number or report it to your service provider. Unscrupulous individuals can use such pieces of information to commit crimes such as identity theft, blackmail, stalking, doxing, and hacking. We often neglect and disclose our personal information online without realizing the danger it may bring.
Financial Fraud And Unauthorized Transactions
Consider using a password manager that securely stores all your passwords in an encrypted vault. Strong passwords with a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters make it significantly more difficult for attackers to crack them through these methods. By regularly monitoring your online presence, you can quickly identify and address any issues that may arise. If you find your phone number on websites you didn’t authorize, contact the site administrators to request removal or follow the specified procedures for data removal.
Instead, a free Dark Web scanner can search countless Dark Web pages and marketplaces for your personal information. The problem is that the average internet user doesn't use the Dark Web — and therefore doesn't know if their data is compromised. The dark web is a part of the internet that is intentionally hidden and requires special software to access. Discovering that your phone number has been found on the dark web can be alarming.
Use Unique Passwords And A Password Manager
You have to freeze your reports separately at each credit bureau, which you can do online, over the phone or by mail. Your rights and protections can depend on how the fraudsters get into your accounts and what they steal. If you use the same password—or similar password variations—for multiple accounts, you may want to change the other accounts' passwords as well. One of the first things you can do is change any potentially compromised passwords to help keep people from taking over your accounts. And while there might not be a simple way to get your information removed from the dark web, you can take measures to protect your accounts and identity.
Scanning the dark web helps detect if your phone number has been exposed, which could lead to identity theft, fraud, or unauthorized access to your accounts. Your personal information showing up on the dark web can lead to serious consequences such as identity theft, financial fraud, and compromised accounts. However, as long as your phone number or email has been found, you must take the necessary steps to protect your account after a data breach. LifeLock Standard offers comprehensive protection for your personal information, online accounts, and identity.
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Today, we’ll show you how to find out if your SSN is on the dark web and what immediate steps you should take if it’s there. These unique nine-digit numbers are required for opening bank accounts, paying taxes, or registering at hospitals. However, taking the steps outlined in this article can help protect you from potential harm. If your email address is circulating on the Dark Web, it's almost certainly due to a data breach. In this article, we’ll discuss what to do if you find your phone number on the dark web and how to safeguard your personal information moving forward.
Upon receipt, it is securely stored using SHA (Secure Hash Algorithm) for maximum protection of your data. Once you add your phone number to our monitoring list, it is encrypted before being transmitted to our servers. It checks known forums, marketplaces, and breach databases. Check if your email, phone, SSN, passport, or credit card is exposed with PureVPN’s Dark Web Monitoring. If you’re running a business and use your phone number for client communication or financial transactions, scanning ensures your number hasn’t been exposed to malicious actors. Monitoring the dark web for your phone number helps you detect any exposure early, so you can act quickly to protect yourself.
- These tools provide a secure, central location for all of your credentials, giving you easy access to your accounts with a single master password.
- Even if you weren’t directly affected by any of these highly publicized data breaches, your PII could still be at risk.
- This encryption not only shields users’ identities but also creates a complex ecosystem where data, including personal information like phone numbers, can be bought and sold.
- These leaks resulted in the online exposure of personal data from 422 million individuals.
I have Experian IdentityWorks credit/identity monitoring and was just alerted that my phone number was found on the dark web. There are removal services like Incogni, Onerep, and DeleteMe that are designed to search for your phone number and other sensitive data across the web and remove any traces they find. If you create a custom phone number and use that in place of your main one, any data leaks that occur through your social media platforms, online stores, and more will only leak your second number. You can easily create a second phone number with an app like Burner and use that number in place of your real one when creating online accounts.
Make sure to create unique passwords for every online account, as reusing them can increase the risk of multiple accounts being hacked. Many illegal goods and services are bought and sold on the dark web, including stolen financial information, counterfeit money, weapons, malware, hacked accounts and drugs. Use reputable services such as identity theft protection or antivirus software with dark web scanning. If you believe someone has gained access to or is abusing your personal information, contact the relevant authorities to get support — and contact any impacted companies to report your identity theft. A credit freeze limits access to your credit reports — preventing anyone from opening new accounts or taking out loans in your name.
It provides an extra layer of protection against unauthorized access, reducing the risk of exposure to the Dark Web and potential compromise of your personal information. Most online platforms offer options to enable 2FA within their account settings or security preferences. This way, you only need to remember a single master password to access all your account credentials.
To remove all accounts linked to your phone number, access each account and look for options like “delete data and close account” or simply “delete account” or similar. Enable two-factor authentication, use unique, complex passwords, and even request a credit freeze if you’re at risk of identity theft. If your information is part of a dossier that includes multiple pieces of personal data, then you should take immediate action to protect yourself against identity theft and other cybercrime. Signing up for a data removal service can be a proactive step in protecting your personal information online.
Spam And Unsolicited Calls
Some thieves will even go through the trash to look for documents containing personal data. Well, as online data leaks and data theft soar, cybercriminals are sharing more and more PII on the dark web. My husband and I are in the process of getting ready to start shopping for a new home, so the last thing I need right now (or ever) is a case of identity theft. If you decide to freeze your credit, make sure you understand the process to unfreeze it, so you can access your credit, when necessary, like when you need to buy a new car. Following the steps outlined in this article can significantly reduce the risk of your phone number falling into the wrong hands.
Phone Number Found On Dark Web: What To Do And How To Protect Yourself
Also, keep a close eye on your statement of accounts and report any suspicious transactions. If your phone number is on the Dark Web, you can coordinate it with your service provider and report the incident. If you’re wondering how they got your information, it’s because of a data breach, and your information might have been leaked to the Dark Web.
