Why the National Public Data Breach Is a Multi-Year Identity Fraud Problem

A December 2023 breach of data broker National Public Data exposed 2.9 billion records—Social Security numbers, addresses, birthdates—for 170 million people across the US, UK, and Canada. Unlike compromised payment cards, which can be reissued, these identifiers are permanent and durable. Criminals can weaponize them for years: synthetic identity fraud, account takeover campaigns, and social-engineering attacks that exploit verified personal details to appear credible.