How Starwood Guests Can Protect Themselves

The Starwood hackers got a treasure trove, just about every ingredient they need for identity theft. The good news is the company’s response is different and maybe better than previous data breaches.

When other big companies have disclosed big data breaches, they’ve typically given consumers free "credit monitoring" service. It gives you a heads-up that a thief has opened an account in your name. Credit monitoring is helpful, but too late to stop the crooks.

Starwood is giving guests something new for free: Identity Monitoring. It basically alerts you if your info is being bought or sold on the 'dark web.' That alert might allow you to quickly freeze your credit file and then, ideally, shut down the thieves before they use your good name in bad faith.

If you stayed at a Starwood hotel like W, Westin, Sheraton, St. Regis, Le Meridien, or Four Points over the past few years, you should consider registering for the free service.

HERE’S HOW: Enroll Online

Also, here’s an update on how you may now freeze your credit file: It’s now free.