Identity theft protection is changing: What to look for

For years, many people thought of identity theft as a specific event.

Someone opens a credit card in your name, runs up a balance and leaves you to clean up the damage.

That still happens, but identity theft has become more complicated.

Criminals may take over an existing bank account instead of opening a new one.

They may transfer your phone number to another device or expose your payment-card information.

They may also use your personal details in a convincing scam or combine information from several breaches to impersonate you.

Your identity may be connected to your bank, credit cards, retirement accounts and phone service.

It can also connect to medical providers, social media profiles, shopping accounts and information collected by data brokers.

That broader risk changes what you should look for in identity theft protection.

A useful service should do more than alert you that something may be wrong.

It should help you understand what happened, decide what to do next and find support when the situation becomes difficult to resolve.

Here's what you can do now to protect yourself, what to look for in an identity theft protection service and where extra monitoring and recovery support may help.

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Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson walks you through five simple ways to help defend yourself against AI scams, fraud, identity theft and financial hacks.