quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
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.

Are there ways for identity thieves to get around a full freeze on those three? Will those impacted still need to take further steps?

That figure of 143 million is worse than first glance. Many will say, that's almost half the population, but that is misleading.

How many children are being reported to credit bureaus? The context of 143 million is not as a portion of the population of the US but rather those who are reported to the credit bureaus. Subtract from the total population those who are not reported, such as children and even young adults who are not reported, and then you have 143 million in the right context. It's huge. If the news did due diligence they would have considered this and it would be more clear to everyone just how bad this is.

I would think the personal information illegally gotten is being sold around the world while Equifax kept this to themselves these past couple months.

quote:

Originally posted by jcsabolt2:
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.

Same here. With 36 years as a DoD civilian (with a TS part of the time) and 24 years active & reserve time (also with a TS part of the time) I figure all my info is out there.

Bottom line: Everyone could be affected.

And Equifax really doesn't give a damn.

Hey no worries - what's the worst that can happen?

Don't forget access to bank and brokerage acconts, debit cards, etc. It's not just credit cards.

I doubt a credit freeze affects access to these.

quote:

Originally posted by Ackks:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
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.

Are there ways for identity thieves to get around a full freeze on those three?

Not unless they can get to the PINs needed to unfreeze them, which are stored in my encrypted keyring.

quote:

Originally posted by Ackks:
Will those impacted still need to take further steps?

I would consider signing up for an identity theft protection service. If your identity is stolen they may detect it before you would and they do all the grunt work cleaning up the mess (at least mine does).

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
...identity theft protection service. If your identity is stolen they may detect it before you would and they do all the grunt work cleaning up the mess (at least mine does).

Which one are you using?

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
Don't forget access to bank and brokerage acconts, debit cards, etc. It's not just credit cards.

Well, my retirement accounts are managed by people who know me personally, so I'm not too concerned about those.

However there is one related point: If any of your financial (retirement savings plans, bank, credit cards, mortgatee) or other services (phone, utilities, ISP) provide for electronic access (e.g.: Via a web site of smartphone/tablet app) and you haven't activated it: Now would be a good time to do so, so the bad guys can't do it in your place, using your name.

Also: If you unwisely used any personal information as a means of creating any passwords: Change them now, using passwords that are not derived from or related to personal information.

"Relatively few" credit card numbers were stolen: 209,000 "only". The fraud protection mechanisms plus the identity theft and fraud detection service to which we subscribe should mitigate that for us, if mine was one of the ones grabbed.

Back to the credit freeze: You can only do what you can do. A credit security freeze is better than nothing. With that in place it's unlikely anybody will be opening any new lines of credit--credit cards, mortgages, car loans, anything.

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
...identity theft protection service. If your identity is stolen they may detect it before you would and they do all the grunt work cleaning up the mess (at least mine does).

Which one are you using?

Two points: 1. That is not something I'd reveal in a public forum, or to anybody I did not know personally. (No offence intended on that latter.) 2. It's moot, as I cannot recommend them. I plan to soon look into their competition. (Why I'm not happy with them is another thing I would not reveal in a public forum or...)

It's like I've been saying for some time now- one day, you're going to wake up and see the headline "EVERYTHING ON THE PLANET HACKED".

quote:

Originally posted by Ackks:
Are there ways for identity thieves to get around a full freeze on those three? Will those impacted still need to take further steps?

A full credit freeze prevents anyone (including you) from opening up any new account with credit, such as a car loan, mortgage, credit card, etc. Even buying your first new cell phone. But in this hack, they also got all of your account numbers (credit card numbers, bank account numbers), which are now available to them to make fraudulent charges, or try to hack your bank account somehow. I am in the process of cancelling all of my credit cards and getting them reissued with new numbers. I will also be getting new account numbers for my two bank accounts. And my full credit freeze remains in effect, as it has been for 12 years now.
 

Irony:



What's just under the headline would be funny under other circumstances.

Anyone sign up for the monitoring? What exactly does it do ?

quote:

Originally posted by apprentice:
Irony:



What's just under the headline would be funny under other circumstances.

That's pretty damn poor. More info:



The main problems appear to be still supporting TLS 1.1 and 1.0, that latter with a weak cipher suite, and some issues with the certificate chains.

(Firefox is perhaps being a mite anal, btw. A matter of opinion.)

Their CEO said in last night's nightly entertainment that they needed to up their game. Gee, ya think?

newtoSig765 and any others who are interested: Here's a site that rates the various "identity theft and mitigation" services: Identity Theft Protection Reviews & Ratings

DO NOT just grab the ratings and run with the highest. Read about how they came to each, then look for other ratings, reviews, customer experiences, etc. Pick a plan that suits your exposure and needs.

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
A full credit freeze prevents anyone (including you) from opening up any new account with credit, such as a car loan, mortgage, credit card, etc. Even buying your first new cell phone. But in this hack, they also got all of your account numbers (credit card numbers, bank account numbers), which are now available to them to make fraudulent charges, or try to hack your bank account somehow. I am in the process of cancelling all of my credit cards and getting them reissued with new numbers. I will also be getting new account numbers for my two bank accounts. And my full credit freeze remains in effect, as it has been for 12 years now.
 

I thought they could only see what was on your credit report?

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
It's like I've been saying for some time now- one day, you're going to wake up and see the headline "EVERYTHING ON THE PLANET HACKED".

Yep. Don't put anything online you don't mind sharing with the world.

quote:

Originally posted by rusbro:

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:...
Believe me they will get around to it. 143 million letters take time to type.

They could use the mimeograph machine.

...or an infinite number of these guys. Any volunteers?

With all due respect to sigmonkey, they have all these guys busy in their systems security department.

quote:

Originally posted by Ackks:

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
A full credit freeze ...
 

I thought they could only see what was on your credit report?

That's what it does, all right. Now imagine what happens when a prospective lender tries to perform a credit check and finds a security freeze on the credit bureau of their choice?

quote:

That's what it does, all right. Now imagine what happens when a prospective lender tries to perform a credit check and finds a security freeze on the credit bureau of their choice?

What happens?

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
"Based on the information provided, we believe that your personal information may have been impacted by this incident."

Cocksuckers

I got the same message.