The Equifax Data Breach: What to Do

-
greymouser7

greymouser7

Vagrant Vagabond “Veni Vidi Vici”
Joined
Apr 17, 2010
Messages
3,729
Reaction score
1,493
Location
78002 down the road from Atascosa, Texas
www.equifaxsecurity2017.com “Potential Impact” tab, last name, last 6 of social security#




September 8, 2017
by
Seena Gressin
Attorney, Division of Consumer & Business Education, FTC
If you have a credit report, there’s a good chance that you’re one of the 143 million American consumers whose sensitive personal information was exposed in a data breach at Equifax, one of the nation’s three major credit reporting agencies.

Here are the facts, according to Equifax. The breach lasted from mid-May through July. The hackers accessed people’s names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers. They also stole credit card numbers for about 209,000 people and dispute documents with personal identifying information for about 182,000 people. And they grabbed personal information of people in the UK and Canada too.

There are steps to take to help protect your information from being misused. Visit Equifax’s website, www.equifaxsecurity2017.com. (This link takes you away from our site. Equifaxsecurity2017.com is not controlled by the FTC.)

  • Find out if your information was exposed. Click on the “Potential Impact” tab and enter your last name and the last six digits of your Social Security number. Your Social Security number is sensitive information, so make sure you’re on a secure computer and an encrypted network connection any time you enter it. The site will tell you if you’ve been affected by this breach.
  • Whether or not your information was exposed, U.S. consumers can get a year of free credit monitoring and other services. The site will give you a date when you can come back to enroll. Write down the date and come back to the site and click “Enroll” on that date. You have until November 21, 2017 to enroll.
  • You also can access frequently asked questions at the site.
Here are some other steps to take to help protect yourself after a data breach:

  • Check your credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — for free — by visiting annualcreditreport.com. Accounts or activity that you don’t recognize could indicate identity theft. Visit IdentityTheft.gov to find out what to do.
  • Consider placing a credit freeze on your files. A credit freeze makes it harder for someone to open a new account in your name. Keep in mind that a credit freeze won’t prevent a thief from making charges to your existing accounts.
  • Monitor your existing credit card and bank accounts closely for charges you don’t recognize.
  • If you decide against a credit freeze, consider placing a fraud alert on your files. A fraud alert warns creditors that you may be an identity theft victim and that they should verify that anyone seeking credit in your name really is you.
  • File your taxes early — as soon as you have the tax information you need, before a scammer can. Tax identity theft happens when someone uses your Social Security number to get a tax refund or a job. Respond right away to letters from the IRS.
Visit Identitytheft.gov/databreach to learn more about protecting yourself after a data breach.

All this information originated from: The Equifax Data Breach: What to Do
 
If you enroll, you probably for go your right to sue if you are compromised.

My co-worker had $2500 charged against his account.

Remember you can freeze your credit so that no one can apply for credit under your identity.
 
Note: If you are the victim of ID theft and have a police report or other appropriate document as required by your State, please submit your request to Equifax in writing and provide Equifax with such police report or appropriate document so you will be eligible for any benefits associated with ID theft victims.
 
If you enroll in Equifax's monitoring program (FREE FOR ONE YEAR ONLY), you get charged after that year is up.

MEMBERSHIP TERM. Unless terminated earlier pursuant to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, Your Product membership will continue for the period of time specified on TrustedID's website. If You receive the Product as a benefit of enrolling in, or purchasing, third-party products or services, Your Product membership may be terminated pursuant to the terms and conditions of Your agreement with the third party. As specified on the website, Your membership subscription may be subject to automatic renewal. TrustedID may, in its sole discretion, terminate this Agreement (or suspend, terminate, or otherwise restrict Your use of and access to the Product) at any time, without notice.


PRODUCT CANCELLATION. You may cancel any subscription at any time. To cancel Your subscription, please contact our Customer Service Team 7 days a week, 5am - 6pm Pacific Standard Time at 1-888-548-7878.
 
According to their FAQ sheet they say this:

"Clarifying that no credit card information is required to sign up for the product and that consumers will not be automatically enrolled or charged after the conclusion of the complimentary year."

I guess they got in trouble for that too, not to mention all the Equifax stock the big wigs sold before the public found out about the breach!!

From I can access about the company they don't know their head from their @SS because when I check to see if my info has been compromised I get this bullshit statement:

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

I already knew that my "personal information may have been impacted by this incident", I didn't need them to tell me. What need to know is "if" my info was compromised?????

TOTAL CRAP!!:elmer::mob::mad::realcrazy::BangHead:

Treblig
 
BTW, Equifax has clarified that you do not forego your right to sue if you sign up for their monitoring due to the breach situation. They got a ton of pressure to rescind that from some some state AG's.
 
Got the same may have statement too!
Question is: What are they going to do about it? This could be a problem for years to come.
 
My guess is it won't take too long until there are only two credit reporting agencies. This is probably going to bankrupt Equifax.

It could really come to light when tax time rolls around and fake tax returns are submitted.

Clark Howard (consumer guru in Atlanta) recommends opening up a CreditKarma.com account for free credit monitoring, and then freezing all three reporting agencies. He has links on his site Clark Howard. I've had CreditKarma for many many years and regularly go in look over all three reports there for free. They update it frequently.
 
Man, I don't know, I am supposed to submit my name and last 6... don't they already have that info? they should be contacting me if they compromised my personal info.
 
I looked at the last post in this thread and then got this via email..... when do you worry when you get this kind of ridiculous stuff:
"Dear Friend,

We sent mail to your address to inform you the following but we have not receive any reply from you. I will like to introduce my humble self to you. I am Ms. Claire Chen, Senior Officer with Egmont group, USA. Through our intelligence report, we noticed that you have been dealing with some fraudsters, and sending money out of your state through western union and moneygram. We have reached your bank to report of these activities. Moreover, we had meeting with the senate committee on finance regarding the good citizens that have fall the victim of these acts. The U.S Senate committee on finance, collaborating with Egmont group, have reached a concrete agreement to set aside some amount for grant to the good citizen`s for the ugly experience they have passed through. I will communicate with you how much you are expect to receive as a grant from the commission when I receive your reply indicating your willingness to receive the recompense designed by the world authorities. I look forward to hear from you soon.

Yours Sincerely,
Ms. Claire Chen"
 
nm9stheham said:
I looked at the last post in this thread and then got this via email..... when do you worry when you get this kind of ridiculous stuff:
"Dear Friend,

We sent mail to your address to inform you the following but we have not receive any reply from you. I will like to introduce my humble self to you. I am Ms. Claire Chen, Senior Officer with Egmont group, USA. Through our intelligence report, we noticed that you have been dealing with some fraudsters, and sending money out of your state through western union and moneygram. We have reached your bank to report of these activities. Moreover, we had meeting with the senate committee on finance regarding the good citizens that have fall the victim of these acts. The U.S Senate committee on finance, collaborating with Egmont group, have reached a concrete agreement to set aside some amount for grant to the good citizen`s for the ugly experience they have passed through. I will communicate with you how much you are expect to receive as a grant from the commission when I receive your reply indicating your willingness to receive the recompense designed by the world authorities. I look forward to hear from you soon.

Yours Sincerely,
Ms. Claire Chen"
Click to expand...
BEWARE!!!
 
nm9stheham said:
I looked at the last post in this thread and then got this via email..... when do you worry when you get this kind of ridiculous stuff:
"Dear Friend,

We sent mail to your address to inform you the following but we have not receive any reply from you. I will like to introduce my humble self to you. I am Ms. Claire Chen, Senior Officer with Egmont group, USA. Through our intelligence report, we noticed that you have been dealing with some fraudsters, and sending money out of your state through western union and moneygram. We have reached your bank to report of these activities. Moreover, we had meeting with the senate committee on finance regarding the good citizens that have fall the victim of these acts. The U.S Senate committee on finance, collaborating with Egmont group, have reached a concrete agreement to set aside some amount for grant to the good citizen`s for the ugly experience they have passed through. I will communicate with you how much you are expect to receive as a grant from the commission when I receive your reply indicating your willingness to receive the recompense designed by the world authorities. I look forward to hear from you soon.

Yours Sincerely,
Ms. Claire Chen"
Click to expand...


I suppose I don't worry, if they want my identity, they can have it... :)
 
My understanding is that they found the breach when investigating an abnormal spike in retirement plan account take over attempts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top