SIN number stolen? Here’s how to fight back
Notify your credit bureau and request an alert on your file.
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Notify your credit bureau and request an alert on your file.
If you’re one of the 900 Canadians whose Social Insurance Number was stolen in the Heartbleed breach, protect yourself. Your SIN is a unique identifier and “the one thing no one has besides you,” says credit risk specialist Mike Morley. A stolen SIN, along with information like your name and address, would enable a thief to apply for a copy of your birth certificate or driver’s license. With those, it’s easy to obtain credit cards, insurance or lines of credit in your name. You can petition the government for a new SIN, but a more immediate action is to alert both credit bureaus so that any changes to your credit report must be verified by you.
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