As reported by Bloomberg, “Equifax Inc. said its systems were struck by a cyberattack that may have affected about 143 million U.S. customers of the credit reporting agency, shedding light on one of the largest and most intrusive breaches in history.”
If you have ever had a line of credit (car payments, rent, student loans), more than likely your information has been compromised.
– Intruders accessed names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and driver’s license numbers. Credit card numbers for about 209,000 consumers were also accessed.
– Criminals took advantage of a “U.S. website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files” from mid-May through July of this year. The intruders also accessed dispute documents with personal identifying information for about 182,000 consumers.
– The company set up a website, www.equifaxsecurity2017.com, that consumers can use to determine whether their information was compromised. It’s also offering free credit-file monitoring and identify-theft protection at a price (lol what).
– If you do use this site to its full capacity, understand that this may weaken or limit your future legal rights. As per their FAQ, “the arbitration clause and class action wavier included in the TrustedID Premier Terms of Use applies to the free credit file monitoring and identity theft protection products, and not the cybersecurity incident.” This should mean that if you are merely checking to see if you have been affected, you will retain legal rights in the event that you wish to pursue future action against Equifax.
– Please see r/personalfinance's identity theft wiki for steps to take if your identity has been stolen. You may wish to freeze your credit with the different reporting agencies. Note that their websites are currently under a heavy load and may be unresponsive. For more information on what freezing your credit means, see the FTC’s explanation.
What does this mean for you?
– If you do nothing else, place an initial 90 day fraud alert on your file. This is free and will require lenders to contact you if someone (including yourself) tries to apply for credit. Government info here. You only have to do this with one bureau in order for the alert to be placed on all three, and it should take less than 5 minutes:
– Check your file at annualcreditreport.com, verify its accuracy and dispute incorrect information. This is a government-mandated website, signed into law (FACTA) in 2003 by George W. Bush, which allows you to pull each report once every 12 months. Dot-gov site here. In the event that you are unable to view your credit report, this doesn’t necessarily mean your identity is stolen; read about how to file the request by paper.
– Check here to see if you’re impacted. As mentioned above, avoid signing up for their service until you’ve read info regarding their arbitration clause or opted out. This will help you retain legal rights.
– If you are included in the list of potential victims, file a CFPB complaint against Equifax:
The complaint is about “Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports” with “credit report” as a specific product.
This is about “Improper use of your report,” and because they shouldn’t divulge your information without consent: “Reporting company used your report improperly.”
Describe your situation accurately and objectively. As for the resolution, enter in whatever you believe to be fair. (Please don’t be ridiculous, it reflects poorly on you. Keep in mind that Equifax is also a victim in this hack.)
