Posted on 09/11/2017 7:25:14 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
You may have never used Equifax yourself -- or even heard of it -- but the credit reporting agency could still have a treasure trove of your personal information.
Equifax said Thursday that 143 million people could be affected by a recent data breach in which cybercriminals stole information including names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and the numbers of some driver's licenses.
Additionally, credit card numbers for about 209,000 people were exposed, as was "personal identifying information" on roughly 182,000 customers involved in credit report disputes.
Equifax is one of three nationwide credit-reporting companies that track and rate the financial history of U.S. consumers. It gets its data -- without you even knowing -- from credit card companies, banks, retailers, and lenders.
Equifax will not be contacting everyone who was affected, but will send direct mail notices to those whose credit card numbers or dispute records were accessed.
The company suggests you sign up for credit file monitoring and identity theft protection. It is providing free service for one year through TrustedID Premier -- whether or not you've been affected by the breach.
To enroll, go to www.equifaxsecurity2017.com and click on the Check Potential Impact tab. You must submit your last name and last six digits of your Social Security number there.
At that point you'll receive a message telling you whether you've been impacted by the hack. Then you'll be given a date when you can return to the site and sign up for the monitoring service. The enrollment process is scheduled over several days to minimize delays, the Equifax website says.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Combined General and Maryland “Freak State” PING!
So I guess the banks will soon be sending out all new credit cards.
The breach is ironic, considering that many customers come to Equifax after being victimized from other services. Companies whose customer databases are hacked often give a free year of credit monitoring, one of the major services Equifax provides, as consolation. Victims of the massive 2014 hack of the federal government’s Office of Personnel Management, for instance, were given Equifax services to help monitor potential identity theft.
I heard that if you enroll in their identity theft protection you have to sign away any liability they have for not protecting your information.
Went to www.equifaxsecurity2017.com as stated in the article. Clicked on the button to check and see if my info was compromised. Malwarebytes blocked the site -— yikes!!!
2) Apply for the free 90 day fraud alert on all 3 agencies. Remember to renew it at the end of the 90 day period.
3) If you have the money, sign up with a company like Lifelock.
Impacted and enrolled...
you think I should trust those who HACKED ME
We’ve already been notified and are scheduled for credit monitoring
Bookmark
I wanted to see if I was impacted. So, instead of “C210n”, I entered my “real” name - “Smith”, and last 6 digits of Social... 123456 (I know, sounds like the combo of luggage lock).
I was affected.
bump
Damn site crashes on me each time I try it.
Credit cards, new Social Security numbers...and a subscription to their identity theft protection service.
Bookmark
The company suggests you sign up for credit file monitoring and identity theft protection.
how were you notified
I have some vicious passwords.
If someone wants to have their computer try to break one of them, I say go for it. At the rate of 1000 tries per second it would only take roughly 15 Quintilian years for them to break one of them.
I use a VPN when I’m in public.
I’m not happy at all about the Equifax problem.
I’m sure it isn’t the first time my information has been out there.
D1
I read when this first out that if you check on your status you automatically lose some of your legal rights in regards to fraud protection. What that involves I have no idea. I didn’t attempt to go any further after reading that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.