Here is some additional information you can use regarding the Equifax breach and identity theft in general:


1. Make sure you are getting your free annual credit reports as provided in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Everyone is entitled to get one free credit report each year from each of the 3 main repositories. You don't have to take them all at one time - and I recommend people spread them out over the year. IE...get one from Transunion around April, one from Experien in July, and one from Equifax in October or so. The website for getting these credit reports is: http://annualcreditreport.com

If you see unauthorized transactions, you should then notify the respective repository.

2. If you have concerns that your identity has been compromised, you can place a 90 day initial fraud alert on your credit file at each of the repositories. This will place an alert message on each credit report that is pulled on you and will advise companies to contact you before extending credit.

3. If you know that your are a victim of identity theft, you can place a 2 year extended alert on your credit file at each of the bureaus. This is similar to the 90 day alert, but goes for 2 years. Basically, the 90 day alert is a short term alert for people to do their research to determine if they have been a victim and then the 2 year alert is for people you figure out that they are actually a victim.

4. If you are really concerned, you can put a block or freeze on your credit file at each of the bureaus. This will basically lock down your credit profile and in order for someone to access, they will have to get your express permission. However, there may be a minor charge to place these blocks on your files.


5. Also, if you find you have been a victim, you can start changing your account and card numbers.

Here is a link to the FTC website on Identity theft that has detailed information on what to do to protect yourself and also what to do if your identity is stolen:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/f...-0014-identity-theft

Thanks for the alert! My wife and I are both affected and received appointments to sign up. Went ahead and put a freeze on my credit while I was there.

Clark Howard has a video out on FB. Not sure if it's on youtube or whatever.

BUT, he says NOT to enroll in their 'free' credit monitoring. Doing so will not allow you to be part of any lawsuit if your identity is stolen.

Yeah, I come up as possibly compromised. I've been frozen for years though, hopefully they can't get much.

My CC's have alerts too, as I try to catch things early.

quote:

Originally posted by Shaql:
Clark Howard has a video out on FB. Not sure if it's on youtube or whatever.

BUT, he says NOT to enroll in their 'free' credit monitoring. Doing so will not allow you to be part of any lawsuit if your identity is stolen.

Just saw this:

"Equifax's requirement that affected customers sign up for arbitration also drew a backlash. Democrats in the House and Senate called on the company to pull back its requirement that anyone who signs up for credit monitoring give up their right to sue Equifax in a class-action lawsuit." - From Kansas.com story

I don't suspect that this will stand up for very long or the pitchforks are going to come out.

Yep. Got me too.

I just put a fraud alert on all 3 agencies. As soon as I lease my next car I'm changing it to a freeze. Hackers need to be hung by their balls & beaten...

Mine says they may have my info. My enrollment date is 9/12. I pulled my TransUnion report and nothing looks odd. I don't expect any activity to show up immediately. I'll check my other credit reports over the next few months.

quote:

Originally posted by Shaql:
Clark Howard has a video out on FB. Not sure if it's on youtube or whatever.

BUT, he says NOT to enroll in their 'free' credit monitoring. Doing so will not allow you to be part of any lawsuit if your identity is stolen.

A class action has already started from two people in Oregon.

quote:

Originally posted by Shaql:
Clark Howard has a video out on FB. Not sure if it's on youtube or whatever.

BUT, he says NOT to enroll in their 'free' credit monitoring. Doing so will not allow you to be part of any lawsuit if your identity is stolen.

That is a bunch of BS. They screw you by not securing your information then put something in the link to find out if you are a victim that releases them legally?

My wife was showing as not affected.

My cousin initiated a credit freeze at all 3 bureaus. Equifax didn't charge, and the other 2 charged $10 each.

I checked my credit today and all is clear. Not sure if I'm going to freeze or not.

I got had by Equifax...between the two OPM breaches, credit card hacks and now Equifax I'm sure every piece of information about me is somewhere on the web.

quote:

Originally posted by Shaql:
Clark Howard has a video out on FB. Not sure if it's on youtube or whatever.

BUT, he says NOT to enroll in their 'free' credit monitoring. Doing so will not allow you to be part of any lawsuit if your identity is stolen.

Assholes.

Equifax, the victim of massive hack that exposed personal information of as many as 143 million Americans, including Social Security numbers, offered help on its Web site — but by clicking on a button to seek the credit monitoring service persons automatically waived their right to sue the company over the security breach.

http://nypost.com/2017/09/08/s...fax-for-tricky-move/

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Yarchin:

quote:

Originally posted by Shaql:
Clark Howard has a video out on FB. Not sure if it's on youtube or whatever.

BUT, he says NOT to enroll in their 'free' credit monitoring. Doing so will not allow you to be part of any lawsuit if your identity is stolen.

Assholes.

Equifax, the victim of massive hack that exposed personal information of as many as 143 million Americans, including Social Security numbers, offered help on its Web site — but by clicking on a button to seek the credit monitoring service persons automatically waived their right to sue the company over the security breach.

http://nypost.com/2017/09/08/s...fax-for-tricky-move/

That is still not as egregious as a July 29th breach not reported until Sept 7th.

Equifax is really screwing the pooch with their slow notice, delayed free service, and trying to protect themselves instead of their customers.

Since Equifax reports my info was snagged, I just put security freezes in my name for all three credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

Monday morning I'll be looking into how to recover the $30 in charges that incurred.

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:
CNBC is reporting that three top execs at Equifax sold their stock holdings in the company, the day after the breach was discovered, and of course, long before today's announcement.

Insider trading? Hard time in the slammer?

It may depend on how the sales are set up. Many execs have standing sell orders set up years in advance, in which case there'd be nothing wrong. That said, if these weren't pre-programmed sales, they may need to lawyer up and start thinking about how they'll look in orange.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Equifax is really screwing the pooch with their slow notice, delayed free service, and trying to protect themselves instead of their customers.

I hate to tell you this, but you are not really their customer. The lenders who rely on their credit reports being accurate to make lending decisions are. You are merely the product they sell.

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:
It may depend on how the sales are set up. Many execs have standing sell orders set up years in advance, in which case there'd be nothing wrong. That said, if these weren't pre-programmed sales, they may need to lawyer up and start thinking about how they'll look in orange.

None of them were pre-arranged. I think they are in some trouble...


https://www.bloomberg.com/news...er&utm_medium=social

With all these hacks and breaches, it bothers me that there are those who want our medical records available in the Cloud, or other globally accessible storage medium. Maybe that's already the case and I'm behind the times - but I hope not.