Reduce Your Risk of Identity Theft by 87% in 10 Minutes

An easy to follow guide to preserving your digital anonymity

You think it won’t happen to you—until it happens to someone you know.

A few years ago, a coworker of mine had his identity stolen.
Not from clicking a shady link. Not from some big breach he’d heard about.

Just… from having his personal info floating around online.

It started with a couple of random DoorDash charges.
Then, thousands disappeared from his bank account.
New credit cards appeared in his name.

His email? Fully compromised.

The worst part? It didn’t happen overnight.
It was quiet. Gradual. Invisible—until it wasn’t.

And it wrecked his finances for months.

But what hit hardest wasn’t the money. It was the violation.
Someone out there had built a digital blueprint of his life—then used it to become him.

That stuck with me.

Because here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Most people are way more exposed than they think.

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What Most People Get Wrong About Identity Theft

Here’s the thing: people don’t get hacked because they’re reckless.

They get hacked because they follow normal habits—habits that have quietly become dangerous:

1. Reusing the same email address for everything
Your primary email is a single point of failure. Once it’s compromised, every account tied to it is up for grabs.

2. Sticking with Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook
These platforms don’t just handle your email—they harvest your data, track your activity, and leave you open to surveillance and phishing.

📌Want a list of my recommended privacy-focused platform alternatives?

Get a free copy here —> Recommended Platform List

3. Letting your browser autofill passwords and forms
Sounds convenient, but it’s risky. Autofill can be hijacked by malicious websites without you realizing it.

4. Not checking if your data is already leaked
Most people have no clue their personal info is already on the dark web. But if you’ve ever been part of a breach, it probably is.

5. Delaying updates
One unpatched app or outdated OS version is all it takes to open the door for identity theft.

Here’s the good news:
You can fix most of these today, in about 10 minutes.

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Fix It in 10 Minutes: Tactical Moves with Real Impact

Forget the generic advice. This is what actually works—and what I walk real people through when they’re serious about reducing their risk.

Each of these steps closes a common but dangerous gap in personal security. You don’t need to do everything today, but even knocking out one or two of these can make you significantly harder to target.

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1. Freeze Your Credit with All 3 Bureaus
Time: ~2 minutes per bureau

If you’ve ever had your Social Security number exposed—even once—this is non-negotiable. A credit freeze stops anyone (most importantly scammers) from opening new accounts, credit cards, or loans in your name.

But here’s what most people don’t realize:
A freeze doesn’t affect your credit score. And you can temporarily lift it any time you need to apply for a loan or credit check. It just adds a security layer most thieves aren’t equipped to bypass.

Things to consider:

• Planning to buy a home or lease a car in the next few weeks? You may want to set a calendar reminder to temporarily unfreeze your credit beforehand—it only takes a few minutes online.

• If you’re applying for jobs, some employers also run soft credit checks. It’s rare, but something to be aware of.

Where to freeze your credit:
Equifax
Experian
TransUnion

Why this matters:
A friend of mine had their SSN stolen in a breach from a platform they didn’t even remember signing up for. They found out six months later—when a collections agency called about owing money. A simple freeze could’ve blocked the damage entirely.

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2. Opt Out of Pre-Approved Credit Offers
Time: 1 minute

Pre-approved offers aren’t just annoying—they’re a security risk. If someone steals your physical mail, they can use one of these “You’re pre-approved!” letters to try to open an account in your name.

You can stop this at the source by opting out of these mailers through the official site backed by the credit bureaus:
OptOutPrescreen.com

You can choose a five-year opt-out or make it permanent with a signed form. Do the permanent one. It’s worth the extra steps.

Bonus: Reduces junk mail and lowers your chances of falling for a financial scam disguised as a legit offer.

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3. Use Email Aliases for New Accounts
Time: 3 minutes to set up

Ever signed up for something with your main email, only to get hammered with spam—or worse, phishing emails pretending to be PayPal or Amazon?

Email aliases fix that.

Using a service like SimpleLogin or ProtonMail’s aliases lets you generate throwaway email addresses that forward to your real inbox. You can shut them off any time.

Why this works:

• If one alias ends up in a breach, you know exactly where it came from.

• If it starts receiving spam or phishing attempts, deactivate it instantly—no risk to your main email or contacts.

• It keeps your real identity compartmentalized, which makes it harder for bad actors to map out your online life.

Tip: Use aliases for shopping sites, newsletters, and tools you don’t fully trust. Reserve your primary email for banking, legal, and healthcare logins only.

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4. Remove Your Info from Data Broker Sites
Time: 2 minutes to start, more if you want to go deep

Sites like Whitepages, Spokeo, and PeopleFinders are quietly scraping your data from public records, utility bills, and purchase history. Then they package it up and resell it to marketers, private investigators, and yes—identity thieves.

Here’s what they usually list:

• Your full name

• Current and past addresses

• Phone numbers

• Names of your relatives

• Age, job history, and even income estimates

Why this matters:
Scammers use this data to build convincing phishing attacks and impersonate you during social engineering scams. If they know your mom’s maiden name, old addresses, or relatives, they can bypass weak verification systems.

Start the opt-out process at PrivacyRights.org, which links directly to the worst offenders.

Or, if you don’t want to spend hours on this, I’ve included a shortcut in the Digital Privacy Toolkit that walks you through exactly how to do it faster—without paying for any sketchy privacy “services.”

Want to know more about the inner workings of data brokers and how they are so invasive? Check out this article:

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5. Delete Old Accounts You’ve Forgotten About
Time: 2–3 minutes per account

Every old account you’ve ever created is a potential backdoor to your identity—especially if it still has an old password you’ve reused elsewhere.

You’d be surprised what’s still out there:

• A Myspace profile with your birthdate and high school info

• A Tumblr blog tied to your primary email

• An abandoned shopping account with your saved address and credit card info

Visit JustDelete.me to find links and instructions for deleting hundreds of online accounts.

Tip: Start with 1–2 today. Make it a weekend habit and chip away at it over time.

Bonus benefit: You’ll reduce how much data is out there tied to your name, which means less spam, less tracking, and fewer entry points for fraud.

If you’re feeling like you need some extra help or want to automate this process checkout Identity Theft Protection from Malwarebytes

Great job you just made yourself 50% less likely to have your identity stolen!!

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What If You Had a Clear Game Plan—Instead of Just Hoping for the Best?

You just made a real dent in your risk.
But let’s be honest—most people stop here. They fix what’s right in front of them and assume they’re good.

Meanwhile, their personal info is still being scraped, sold, and stored in places they don’t even know about.

That’s why I built the Digital Privacy Toolkit—because doing “a few smart things” isn’t enough anymore.

This is the system I wish my coworker had before his accounts got drained.

It’s the same one I’ve used with clients who needed to get serious about staying off scammers’ radar—for good.

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Here’s what’s inside (and why it matters):

Identity Theft Prevention Plan
Step-by-step guidance to freeze your credit, set up fraud alerts, and remove yourself from the pre-approved offer lists that scammers love.

Personal Cybersecurity Checklist
Covers the common gaps—cloud storage, messaging apps, file sharing, browser settings—that most people overlook.

Home Network Hardening Tips
What to do with your router, smart devices, and Wi-Fi settings to reduce background data leaks and network exposure.

Privacy Settings Walkthroughs
Click-by-click guides to stop apps like Facebook, Instagram, Google, and TikTok from tracking you across the web.

Data Broker Removal Guide
Cut through the noise. This guide walks you through removing your info from the worst offenders—fast.

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No fluff. No guesswork. No technical rabbit holes.

Just a clear, realistic plan to:

• Reduce your exposure across the board

• Make your personal data harder to access

• Spend less time cleaning up messes you could’ve prevented

If you're ready to stop winging it—and actually take control of your privacy—this is where to start.

Get the Digital Privacy Toolkit

You'll feel more confident and more secure within the first hour of using it.

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Before You Go…

Let me ask you:

Have you ever had a close call with identity theft—or know someone who has?
What’s the one privacy fix you’ve been putting off?

Drop it in the comments—I read every one.

And if this post made you think “I should probably do that,” then restack it.
Someone you care about might be one click away from a financial mess they didn’t see coming.

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Community Mention

Every Tuesday I feature a new author in my segment Guest Post Tuesday. If you’d like to be featured and have your work viewed by a new audience, send me a direct message.

On average each post gets between 1-2k views within the first 2 days. Some authors have seen upwards of 10 subscribers directly resulting from participating. I’d love to work with you, send me a message.

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Until next time…

Stay Informed. Stay Secure. Stay Curious.