Technology
Why last year’s breach is this year’s identity fraud
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Identity fraud is rising in the United States, but the timing does not always line up with the breach behind it. Consumers lost $27.3 billion to traditional identity fraud in 2025, according to Javelin Strategy & Research’s 2026 Identity Fraud Study. That followed a sharp 19% jump in 2024, when losses reached $27.2 billion.
FTC identity theft reports also climbed in 2025. Reports through the first nine months of the year had already topped the full-year total for 2024. The FTC received more than 1.1 million identity theft reports in 2024, according to the agency’s Consumer Sentinel data.
The problem is that breach notices are becoming a regular part of life, even though the risks can last long after the notice arrives. The Identity Theft Resource Center logged a record 3,322 U.S. data compromises in 2025. In a separate consumer survey, the ITRC found that 80% of consumers received at least one breach notice in the previous 12 months. Among those consumers, 88% experienced at least one negative consequence afterward, including account takeover attempts.
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5 MYTHS ABOUT IDENTITY THEFT THAT PUT YOUR DATA AT RISK
Data from old breaches can resurface months or even years later, giving criminals new ways to target consumers. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Why old breach data can turn into new fraud
Stolen identity records often take time to turn into fraud. After a major breach, the data can move through criminal markets in stages. It may be sold to brokers, combined with information from earlier leaks and resold to fraud rings that build more complete identity profiles.
That means a Social Security number stolen in 2024 may not be used to open a fraudulent credit line or file a fake tax return until 2026 or later. By then, the free credit monitoring offered after the breach may have expired. The breach itself may also be long gone from the headlines.
Major breaches that could fuel future identity fraud
UnitedHealth confirmed in January 2025 that about 190 million people were affected by the Change Healthcare breach. The incident exposed personal and health information, making it the largest known healthcare data breach in U.S. history. Affected consumers were offered two years of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection. The enrollment deadline was Aug. 26, 2025.
National Public Data, a background-check broker, was tied to a massive breach in 2024. Up to 2.9 billion records were reportedly exposed, though not all were unique or verified. The exposed information reportedly included Social Security numbers, addresses and relatives’ information.
AT&T disclosed in July 2024 that hackers stole call and text records tied to about 109 million customer accounts. The stolen data included details about calls and texts, such as the numbers contacted and the timing of those communications, but not the content of the calls or messages. The incident involved data stored on a third-party cloud platform and was part of a wider Snowflake-linked campaign that also affected other companies.
HOSPICE FRAUD USES STOLEN IDENTITIES FOR FAKE PATIENTS
Stolen personal information can be combined with other leaked records to create more complete identity profiles. (Kury “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
What thieves do with stolen identity data
Stolen identity data can feed several types of fraud. Some of these scams take months or years to show up on a credit report, tax filing or insurance record.
Synthetic identity fraud
Criminals combine a real Social Security number with a fake name and date of birth. They use that profile to open new credit lines, build trust and drain the accounts later.
Tax refund fraud
Thieves use stolen Social Security numbers to file fake tax returns in someone else’s name. Victims often find out only when their real return gets rejected.
Medical identity theft
Criminals use stolen personal or health insurance information to submit insurance claims for care the victim never received. Some victims do not notice until they get a bill, hit an insurance limit or see a collections notice.
New-account fraud
Thieves open credit cards, auto loans or utility accounts using stolen identities. Victims may discover it only after checking their credit report.
Account takeover
Criminals use stolen usernames and passwords to break into your existing email, shopping, banking or financial accounts. They often use automated tools to test that same login information across multiple websites.
WHY A CREDIT FREEZE ISN’T THE END OF IDENTITY THEFT
Ongoing monitoring can help catch suspicious activity after free breach protection ends. (Kury “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Why one-time protection isn’t enough
After a breach, you are often told to freeze your credit, accept the free monitoring offer and watch your statements. Each step can help, but each one has limits. Free credit monitoring offered after a breach usually lasts one or two years. That can expire around the time stolen data starts to show up in new fraud attempts.
A credit freeze can block new accounts from being opened in your name. However, it will not stop every type of fraud. It does not prevent someone from filing a fake tax return with your Social Security number. It also does not stop fraudulent medical bills or takeover attempts on your existing accounts.
One-time dark web scans have limits, too. They show where your data appears at one point in time. They don’t tell you where it may show up next. Once a Social Security number is in criminal markets, it can keep circulating.
Steps to protect yourself after a breach
If your information was exposed in a breach, these steps can help you lower your risk and catch suspicious activity sooner.
1) Freeze your credit
A credit freeze can help stop criminals from opening new credit cards, loans or other accounts in your name. You need to place a freeze with each of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You can temporarily lift the freeze when you need to apply for credit.
2) Change reused passwords
If you used the same password on more than one account, change it right away. Criminals often test stolen usernames and passwords across many websites. A password manager can help you create strong, unique passwords for every account.
3) Turn on multifactor authentication
4) Watch your financial and medical accounts
Review bank statements, credit card charges, insurance claims and explanation of benefits statements. Look for accounts, charges, claims or services you do not recognize. Medical identity theft can be easy to miss until a bill or collections notice arrives.
5) Check your credit reports
Review your credit reports for new accounts or hard inquiries you do not recognize. You can check your reports for free at AnnualCreditReport.com. If you spot something suspicious, report it quickly and follow the dispute process with the credit bureau.
What to do after free monitoring expires
Paid identity theft protection services monitor your personal data on an ongoing basis. The goal is to shorten the time between when stolen data gets used and when you notice something is wrong.
Look for a service that monitors all three major credit bureaus, scans the dark web and alerts you to suspicious changes tied to your identity. Some services also monitor data broker sites, identity verification activity, home title records and financial accounts.
Three-bureau credit alerts can help catch new-account fraud. Dark web and data broker monitoring can help spot repackaged records. Account-change alerts can help flag takeover attempts. No service can undo the original breach, but ongoing monitoring can give you a better chance of catching suspicious activity early.
See my tips and best picks on Best Identity Theft Protection at CyberGuy.com.
Kurt’s key takeaways
A breach notice can feel like yesterday’s problem once the headlines fade and the free monitoring runs out. But stolen personal data does not expire. Criminals can hold onto it, mix it with other leaked records and use it long after you have stopped thinking about the original breach. That is why identity protection needs to last longer than the breach notice. Freezing your credit, using strong passwords, turning on multifactor authentication and watching your accounts all help. But identity fraud is often a long game. The sooner you spot suspicious activity, the faster you can act before the damage spreads.
Should companies have to provide identity protection for as long as stolen data can be used against you? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
Android 17 is getting a dedicated gaming mode for foldables that will put a virtual gamepad with touch controls on half of your screen to theoretically make it easier to play games.
With foldable gaming mode, which is set to launch in the coming months, the virtual controller emulates physical button presses at a system level and is designed to work “with any game that supports physical controllers,” says Google’s Mishaal Rahman on Reddit. For the actual inputs, the virtual controller will have a D-pad; left and right virtual sticks; A, B, X, and Y buttons; L1, L2, L3; R1, R2, and R3; and a start button. And you’ll be able to configure the gamepad in several ways, such as keeping the virtual joysticks inline or staggered from each other, scaling the size of the buttons, and toggling haptics on or off.
Turning on the mode “is as simple as unfolding your device, either before or after launching a compatible game,” Rahman says. You can also choose to hide the gamepad, and if you connect a physical controller, the virtual gamepad will turn off on its own.
“Android allows you to play a wide variety of games on the go,” says Rahman. “While touch controls work incredibly well for many titles, certain games are better enjoyed with physical gamepads. The problem is that carrying a Bluetooth controller or a snap-on gamepad with you everywhere isn’t always convenient. We want to bridge that gap, and we’re addressing it with a new feature in the Android 17 platform release that’s specifically tailored for foldable devices.”
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A letter arrives about a debt you don’t remember, from a company you’ve never dealt with, for an account you never opened. For a growing number of people, that notice is how they first learn someone used their identity.
Complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) about attempts to collect a debt not owed rose about 115% above their prior two-year average in 2025, and many of those consumers reported balances they didn’t recognize and suspected identity theft.
Before you panic or pay, it helps to understand why these letters show up and what rights you have.
WHY LAST YEAR’S BREACH IS THIS YEAR’S IDENTITY FRAUD
A collection letter for a debt you do not recognize can be the first sign that someone used your identity. (John Carl D’Annibale /Albany Times Union via Getty Images)
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Why debt collectors contact you about a debt you do not owe
When a charged-off account is sold to a collection agency, the agency receives the original creditor’s application file, including whatever identifiers were used to open it. That contact information is often 90 to 180 days out of date by the time the account changes hands.
HOW SCAMMERS BUILD A PROFILE ON YOU USING DATA BROKERS
Before the first call, the agency runs skip tracing: matching a name, Social Security number (SSN) and past addresses against public records, postal change-of-address data, property and utility records and data-broker files to find the current person behind the account. At bulk volume, each lookup costs the agency pennies.
The agency then contacts you directly, by phone or mail, whether or not you have looked at your credit file.
How fake debt can start with identity theft
The account behind the notice may have been opened with your information pulled from breaches and resold, then approved by an automated check that matched the data to an existing file without confirming that the applicant was you. Opening a new account is the leading form of attempted identity misuse reported to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), which counted it more often than takeovers of accounts people already held. What happens after is less understood.
10 SIGNS YOUR PERSONAL DATA IS BEING SOLD ONLINE
Charged-off debts, including fraudulent ones, are sold in bulk portfolios for pennies on the dollar, often with thin supporting paperwork. One fraudulent balance can be sold and resold across several agencies. A debt you dispute and clear with one collector can be repackaged and reappear with another months later.
With medical debt, a bill can sometimes move toward collections before you see every explanation of benefits, insurance update or corrected statement. That is why you should contact the provider and your insurer before paying a collector.
What debt collectors legally have to tell you
Federal law gives you a defined response, and the clock starts at first contact. Under the CFPB’s Regulation F, a collector must send a validation notice describing the debt and your rights in, or within five days of, its first communication with you.
5 MYTHS ABOUT IDENTITY THEFT THAT PUT YOUR DATA AT RISK
You have 30 days from receiving that notice to dispute the debt in writing under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Dispute inside that window, and the collector must stop collecting until it verifies the debt.
One important note: the FDCPA generally covers third-party debt collectors, not every original creditor. However, credit reporting laws, identity theft protections and state laws may still give you rights.
If the debt came from identity theft, send the collector an FTC Identity Theft Report from IdentityTheft.gov. Also, tell the collector in writing that you dispute the debt, that it resulted from identity theft and that you want it to stop reporting the account to the credit bureaus.
IS YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER AT RISK? SIGNS SOMEONE MIGHT BE STEALING IT
Ask Equifax, Experian and TransUnion for a block under Section 605B of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
With a valid identity theft report and proof of your identity, the bureaus must block the fraudulent item within four business days. A block is harder to reverse than an ordinary dispute, which counts when the same debt can be resold.
The CFPB has said it may expand the meaning of identity theft under Regulation V to cover “coerced debt,” money run up in someone’s name without their consent, including in domestic and elder abuse cases.
What to do before you pay a debt collector
Before you send money or confirm any personal details, slow down and make the collector prove the debt belongs to you.
1) Ask for proof in writing
Do not pay, promise to pay or give out more personal information during the first call. Ask for the validation notice in writing and save every letter, voicemail and call log. Then send a written dispute within 30 days.
Fake debts can start with stolen personal information and then move from one collection agency to another. (PixelsEffect/Getty Images)
2) File an identity theft report if the debt looks fake
If you believe identity theft caused the account, create an FTC Identity Theft Report at IdentityTheft.gov. Send copies to the collector, the original creditor and all three credit bureaus. Also, place a fraud alert or credit freeze with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, so it becomes harder for someone to open another account in your name.
3) Check medical bills before paying a collector
With medical debt, contact the provider and your insurer before paying a collector. Ask for an itemized bill and an explanation of benefits. A medical bill can end up in collections while paperwork, insurance reviews or billing disputes are still catching up.
4) Respond quickly if a collector sues you
If a collector sues you, do not ignore the papers. Respond by the court deadline or contact a consumer law attorney or legal aid group. Even a debt you do not owe can create bigger problems if you miss a court deadline.
Why early fraud alerts can save you money
Once a fraudulent account charges off and sells, cleanup gets harder. You may need to dispute the debt with the collector, the original lender and all three credit bureaus. If someone resells the debt, the same problem can come back months later.
YOU HAVE A CREDIT FREEZE. IT STILL ISN’T ENOUGH
Credit monitoring can help you spot a new account or hard inquiry before the debt reaches collections. That gives you time to contact the lender, dispute the account and freeze your credit sooner.
No service can prevent every account opened in your name. However, three-bureau credit monitoring can alert you when lenders report new accounts or hard inquiries. That can help you act before a collections notice arrives or a lender denies you credit.
See my tips and best picks on Best Identity Theft Protection at CyberGuy.com.
Kurt’s key takeaways
A collection letter for an unfamiliar debt deserves a closer look. It may mean someone opened an account in your name. Do not pay just to stop the calls. Ask for written validation and dispute the debt fast. If someone misused your information, file an FTC Identity Theft Report. Then freeze your credit and check all three credit reports. Early alerts can help you catch fraud before collections begin. That can save you money, time and stress.
Have you ever gotten a collection letter or call for a debt you knew you did not owe, and what did you do first? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com.
Before paying a collector, ask for written proof, dispute the debt and file an FTC Identity Theft Report if fraud is involved. (Daniel de la Hoz/Getty Images)
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- Plus, you’ll get instant access to my Ultimate Scam Survival Guide free when you join.
Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
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