How to check to see if someone is using your Social Security number

In reality, there’s no foolproof way to check an identity theft, but there are various other strategies you might use. “There are even some telltale signs” according to David White, managing director and global head of data breach notification for Kroll Cyber Risk, a company that assures managed security services.

People might receive emails and letters about new accounts or even transactions they don’t actually recognize. “The only problem is that many of us put it down to spam and then ignore it.” One of the best ways to check if an email is truly legitimate is to look at the return address, according to White.

Spam emails will often come from different random addresses. So if a message looks as legitimate as it could, contact the bank or even the company straight away, rather than just clicking on any given link in the message. This way, they can confirm if they sent you that email.