Equifax Announces HUGE Security Breach
Have you heard the news? 😱
Equifax, one of the largest U.S. consumer credit reporting agencies, recently announced that a data breach took place from mid-May through July 2017 potentially affecting 143 million U.S. consumers. YIKES!
The exposed data includes mostly names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, addresses and some driver’s license numbers. In addition, credit card numbers were accessed for approximately 209,000 U.S. consumers, as well as certain dispute documents with personal identifying information for approximately 182,000 U.S. consumers.
Here’s what you need to know…
Equifax has established a dedicated website, Equifax Security 2017, to help you determine if your information has been potentially impacted and to sign up for credit file monitoring and identity theft protection through TrustedID Premier. This includes 3-Bureau credit monitoring of Equifax, Experian and TransUnion credit reports; copies of Equifax credit reports; the ability to lock and unlock Equifax credit reports; identity theft insurance; and Internet scanning for Social Security numbers – all free to U.S. consumers for one year.
The website also provides additional information on steps that you can take to protect your personal information. If you have more questions go here or contact the dedicated call center at 866-447-7559 open every day including weekends from 7AM– 1AM Eastern time.
In addition to the website, Equifax will send direct mail notices to consumers whose credit card numbers or dispute documents with personal identifying information were impacted.
(Thanks, Pixie, Ben and Tori!)
These breeches are really starting to tick me off. Both mine and my husbands accounts were affected. They should be responsible for any stolen data for the rest of our lives not a year. My bank told me that these people wait a year or longer to use your information. When the target thing happened it was a full year later that someone tried to use my old credit card. I was thankful that I canceled my cc after the breech happened, but you can not cancel your SSN. This is why our SSN should not be expected for these things anymore. Our identities are so easy to steal and these companies make it that much easier. They deserve more than a slap on the wrist.
I agree. They provide tips to protect our info, yet they can’t protect our info?? Also, how trustworthy is the company overseeing this?
My sentiments exactly.
I agree- & they didn’t make it public very quickly to boot. Add that four of the execs sold off company stock after it happened and the whole thing is just so aggravating. My husband and I weren’t affected by the SC tax filings breach- I just feel like we will never be safe from it all 😞
*were affected
Sounds and smells like insider trading …they knew the info was going to break so they dumped their stock before value decreased…they should all go to jail …
I filled out the online form and I still am not clear on whether I am impacted or not. It just told me to come back on September 11th and fill out more information to enroll in their credit protection plan. I think the best way to protect against this is to freeze your credit reports on all three bureaus and that will prevent anyone from opening an account in your name even if they do have all this private information. The only problem is you have to pay $5 per Bureau to freeze your credit.
I think the company should offer it free!
My credit report on Freeze for years now and im not using credit card, hopefully im not affected by it. Just keep in mind more form you feeling out online more vulnerable you are become : no one cares
Same with me when I tried it yesterday. However, when I checked today, I did get the message before the enrollment page. You may want to check again today, Arnold.
Thanks, Arnold! I had never heard of a credit freeze. Just added it on all three bureaus for both my husband and myself.
Sounds and smells like insider trading …they knew the info was going to break so they dumped their stock before value decreased…they should all go to jail … and i froze my credit today and requested free reports from all 3 agencies…
Ugh it told me my info was in the potentially affected files 🙁
This breach happened July 29…and they aren’t offering anything until Sept 11???? What!?!? Any why did it take so long for them to tell us!
That makes me angry.
It said so for both me and my husband as well. 🙁
Be careful about signing up for their “identity protection” because you waive your right to sue them and they are not promising to fix your credit
. https://money.cnn.com/2017/09/08/technology/equifax-monitoring-services/index.html
Thank you for posting this.
Yes, thank you! Don’t be so quick to enroll when they aren’t promising to fix your credit.
Came here to say the same. The ‘identity protection’ is super sketchy and the site itself, at least earlier today, did not use HTTPS.
As a followup, a link to a major internet security blog where the site is discussed: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/09/equifax-breach-response-turns-dumpster-fire/
Mine is affected. I’m so angry. Really big of them to offer only one year of credit protection for this! 😞
it says I was affected but it keeps taking me back to check to see if I was affected will not let me enroll further
They aren’t letting anyone enroll right away. You have to go back on whatever date they gave you.
This bothers me for a couple of reasons (beyond the obvious) 1) this occurred in MAY was discovered in JULY and made public in SEPTEMBER. 2) Reported in the media that Equifax executives “coincidentally” sold stock in their company a few days ago. But didn’t know about the incident. 3) Persons affected were given a date to go back to the website to sign up for the credit monitoring. This is akin to a rebate. A store offers a rebate to induce purchase of a product knowing only 40% of buyers will go through the effort to obtain the rebate. Same with this. Not everyone will go back on or after their “assigned date” to register. This should be done AUTOMATICALLY. Heck, they have all our info anyway. It should be easy. Rant over.
Mine is on the “May have been impacted by this incident ” list. I am not very happy right now.
Mine says that, too. I’m peeved!
I am waiting for them to contact me.Especially since my mother passed away in April and one of her physicians contacted me about her medical information may have been breached. One more thing to contend with. If I could sue I would,but the lawyers will get the bulk of any settlement, so it’s not worth it. I am still waiting for the Target data breach to settle, 4 years later. Just a joke.
Guys, let’s put this number into perspective…. if you are a living adult in America, there’s just about no doubt that you were affected. Equifax was responsible for virtually every adult American’s information and they act like it’s just no big deal. Sickening.
That makes sense, however, medial outlets are reporting 2 of 5 Americans. I don’t know what that means? Are the 3 remaining unaffected Americans mostly all minors? Who knows.
Me and my husband and my 21 y/o son “may have been affected,” but my 19 y/o was not. Coincidentally, my 19 y/o’s identity may have been compromised 2 -3 years ago when he was a minor and there was a breach at United Healthcare (or Aetna?).
I wonder if they really know who was really infected. I just did it using my maiden and my married last name. One was possibly infected and the other was not.
So can this impact anyone or do you have to have some sort of account with them. All I know is that they provide credit reports…
I’m concerned as I don’t even know the exact details of the insurance they are offering and is the limited free credit monitoring going to be enough? They have our social security numbers…this isn’t like just cancelling a Target credit card.
Mine says it was not effected, but I’m not sure how much I believe that.
The whole system is corrupt,they have all your info and when something serious like this happens all they care about is not being sued, they dont care about you people
Pay the fee to freeze your reports. Keep the PINs in safety deposit or somewhere else safe. Find your own company to protect you. They are offering a free one on Monday but guess what it’s owned by Equifax. These companies they offer for free are mid-level protection service.
It looks like my information could also have been affected. I feel angry about this, but also a bit confused. Like, what could someone actually do with my information? Try to open a credit account in my name? Anything else I should watch out for?
That’s bad enough – they can ruin you with that!
I understand that. I’m just wondering if there’s anything else to be watchful for.
I was a victim of identity theft. They use your name, address, SSN, and birthday to open credit cards, charge purchases on them, and you get a bill. For me, they have tried to open credit with TJ Maxx, JC Penny’s, Macys, sears, and a bunch of online retailers. They succeeded in charging two iPhones through T-Mobile, and charging $145 at JC Penny’s. I was on the phone for hours for days trying to sort this out so I wouldn’t have to pay. And I put a freeze with all three bureaus, however, I just checked and Equifax said I COULD be affected. 😠
Is there anyone here who were “definitely affected” as opposed to “may have been affected?” It seems that we’re all “May have been.” How do we know for sure?
They will send you a letter –
So basically half of people over 18 living in the U.S. so the only way you aren’t affected is if you are over 18 and never ever ever had any credit. I can’t believe they aren’t doing more.
One more thing…my husband said he heard on the radio today that if you enrol, you lose your right to sue (not sure who, Equifax?) I need to look it up later before I enrol on the 12th.
Yes I heard that too Riss. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/09/08/what-to-know-before-you-check-equifaxs-data-breach-website/?utm_term=.c3472d8c0cc3
Definitely don’t want to lose the right to sue them after such negligence!
I also find it suspect that they announced this on a Friday immediately before a major hurricane dominating the headlines.
If you read the terms of service, you can still enroll and choose to opt out on Arbitration Provision by mailing them a letter:
Right to Opt-Out of this Arbitration Provision. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THE ARBITRATION PROVISION, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO EXCLUDE YOURSELF.
What can thieves really do if they steal your info? Open credit? That has to come to your home and get activated by you. Just wondering what I should be on the lookout for.
They can open credit with their address. It goes to them, and then they activate it.
My Bitdefender blocked this site when I clicked on the link. Interesting.
I unfortunately typed my information to see if I was affected. Then, later I find out from reading comments on other sites that the link may not be trustworthy or not have good security. Yikes! Wish I’d known sooner!
It blocked me from the site also
You can put a fraud alert on all of your accounts, including your social security number. If anyone tries to open an account, they verify with a lengthy amount of questions. I actually had an account compromised in July, so now I am wondering if these events are connected. The fraud alert is free, and can be extended past the original 90 days.
How do you do this?
HOW DO I FIND OUT IF MY CARDS OR SOCIAL SECURITY HAVE BEEN COMPROMISED? OR GET ON A CLASS ACTION SUIT IF I HAVE BEEN.
To be effected, do you have to be a member?
If anyone is using/has credit cards please cancel them & have new ones issued. Last week my husband received a fraud alert on his business credit card someone wanted to make 2 diff online purchases for a total of $800!! It’s a good thing we use American Express credit card for our business as they detected the fraud within 2 min of The incident & we were able to avoid the charges, however, not all credit card companies have a good fraud detection service 😫
I am super irritated at all of these breeches too, and I believe that they should pay for credit freezes- but in the meantime, go to any of three credit bureaus and sign up for a “fraud alert”. This is free and good for up to 90 days. Not perfect, but it’s easy enough to just keep re- upping it. This just means that they have to notify you before anyone opens an account with your name on it. Hope this is helpful!
Either way we’re screwed! They can sit on our info for 5 years and then use it. So no amount of checking or fraud alerts are going to help us!!!
A check and balance. U can get a free credit report once a year by going to
http://Www.annualcreditreport.com
It won’t give you your credit score but at least you can find out who and what is on your credit report. This will not ding your credit score. And you can pull all three credit reports, Equifax, Experian, and
Trans Union. IT IS ABSOLUTELY FREE.
I, like you all are SICK of all the breaches. Other countries have better ID security than we do (i.e. fingerprint IDs, etc.). However, trying to look on the bright side (or the overcast side) this also affects all the people that are affected by the hurricanes so even if someone steals our identities, a lot of us still have homes, etc. Some of them are going to lose everything or family and when they try to get cash, rebuild, or whatnot, they might have been screwed by this breach too. I can’t imagine the double and triple whammy those people are going to experience because of this. This all just makes me sick, but it’s going to be a way of life now that we are all computerized. (sigh)
That’s funny– A few years ago, Tmobile had their security breach. The free security monitoring they offered is scheduled to expire next month. And now Equifax is having this! What are the chances I’m being covered back to back?!
At this point, consumers should be entitled to a lifetime of free security monitoring (not just a credit report)!
Great- I may have been affected. Also this from the site for what it’s worth:
2). NO WAIVER OF RIGHTS FOR THIS CYBER SECURITY INCIDENT
In response to consumer inquiries, we have made it clear that the arbitration clause and class action waiver included in the Equifax and TrustedID Premier terms of use does not apply to this cybersecurity incident.
Fwiw, their system to check if you are affected is pretty much useless. I’ve seen on Twitter that people enter their info more than once and it goes back and forth between breached and not. And that entering “test” and 123456 comes back as breached. Kinda suspect.
Well, that’s definitely interesting.
WoW! interesting!
On today’s Dave Ramsey show he talked about this. Should go listen, it was in the beginning of the first hour. Biggest take away was read the fine print, if you were affected and signup for the free monitoring; you waive your right to sue them in any class action lawsuits in the future.
I’ve lost track how many things have been breached now. Even the military had some personal information stolen/leaked not that long ago. So basically, nothing is safe, do your best to protect yourself & just pray.
I use transunion and pay a small monthly fee (not sure if it’s still small; I’m a longtime member) to have my credit constantly monitored and be notified if anyone does something fishy or tries to ding my credit incorrectly. It’s saved me a few times when I’ve been able to see these things happen in real time. I also froze my credit (no extra fee) a few days ago when someone racked up a good $4000 on a credit card I never use (and was in my possession) before Wells Fargo bothered to tell me. This breach explains a lot. I recommend and trust TU.
So is this only for those that are a member or have used the site? I’ve never gotten my credit score online, except from my credit card that offers the service for free automatically. They really need to have a better way of getting someone’s info without using a social security number. I’m always paranoid whenever I have to use it online & try to avoid it if I can, but many require it. Stealing credit card numbers is one thing, but your identity is super hard to fix.
DO NOT sign up for this! It will disqualify you from suing equifax in the future and likely disqualify you from a class action lawsuit. It’s just to cover their back. DO NOT SIGN UP
According to the website:
2). NO WAIVER OF RIGHTS FOR THIS CYBER SECURITY INCIDENT
In response to consumer inquiries, we have made it clear that the arbitration clause and class action waiver included in the Equifax and TrustedID Premier terms of use does not apply to this cybersecurity incident.
Our government needs to step in immediately to change the way our personal info. such as SS #, DOB, etc. is stored/safeguarded by the 3 credit bureaus. They must be accountable & if they are going to store our personal info. then free monitoring service needs to be offered at all times, not after a problem occurs. If credit card companies can do this, why can’t they? We need to get with the times & fingerprints, eye scans, etc. need to be the way of the future, not something like a common number that can be stolen.
If you enroll in their credit monitoring program, you forfeit your right to participate in any class action. The NYAGs office has a case open to investigate. So there will be more to come. Something to consider.
USA Today recommends freezing your credit at a lesser know agency called Innovis along with the 3 well known agencies. I did it today, was completely automated process and free as well. Also recommended freezing your credit by phone, and not online.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/09/13/how-freeze-your-credit-protect-your-identity/657304001/
Hi all. I have a query. I checked and found that my data was affected by this breach and I didn’t know this. I have been using only credit karma as free service since 2014 after I opened my first credit card. Recently I bought a new car on loan. Now if I want to get benefit of this settlement. What option I should select without showing any documents because I don’t have any? Should I go for free credit monitoring service given by them …will that be worth ? Or should I go for $25 spend per hour option (max we can submit 10hours without documents proof) . Please advice ! I am new here in USA and have not much idea about this.