I immediately filed a security freeze with all 3 Credit Bureaus, and than started doing research on ways the hackers could use my personal information (Name, Social Security Number, Address, e.t.c.) .
Is it frightening what some one in the United States can do with someone else's information that will never show up on a credit report until after arrest warrants are issued.
Here is what me and tens of millions of others face:
With my personal information some one can:
Receive identification cards ( or driver's license ), apply for my social security card, and obtain my birth certificate.
They can fraudulently apply for government services in my name.
They can fraudulently file tax returns.
They can access my bank account without account information.
They can access all of my retirement accounts without account information.
They can sell any assets I own ( property, cars, stocks, bonds, e.t.c. ).
They can take out certain lines of credit ( "No Credit Check !" ) for anything from furniture, to vehicles.
They can apply for jobs in my name.
They can apply for certain government grants in my name.
This is just the tip of the iceberg - there is SO much a fraudster can do without tipping off the Credit Bureaus anything wrong is happening !!!
My elderly mother had been ripped a few times falling for email scams (mainly phishing). It's terrible when it happens, although at the moment UK banks are surprisingly good about refunding money lost to identity fraud. They can't keep that up forever.