Equifax Breach-must read

[Erik88]

I'm posting this as a PSA for those that may not be aware. The personal info of 143M Americans has been compromised as a result of this. They got my wife, dad, stepmom, and my own information. These people now have virtually everything needed to steal your identity or open fraudulent accounts in your name.

It only takes 30 seconds to determine if your info was potentially stolen. They can't or won't say for sure.

https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com

This is a big deal folks. It's also a major pain in the ass. I just froze my credit which costs money. 

 

"That's the advice from identity-theft experts after the credit-reporting company said hackers broke into its computers and stole key personal data — including social security numbers, names, addresses and dates of birth — from an estimated 143 million Americans.

Following the breach, which was made public last week, hackers now have four of the most important pieces of identification data — dubbed the "crown jewels" — for nearly half the nation, says John Ulzheimer, a credit expert who formerly worked at Equifax and credit-score company FICO."

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/09/11/how-defend-yourseafter-equifax-data-breach-credit-report-freeze-strong-defense-against-identity-thef/654065001/

Another helpful article.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/11/pf/equifaxmyths/index.html

 

[TNMTBik3r]

It took them 4 weeks to announce it publicly too, during which time several executives sold $2 million in stock before that could tank....Saw earlier the Senate plans to investigate. 

I've been following the news on it the past few days. There are multiple lawsuits filed, so get in on the $3.49 you are owed through class action suit...

Edited September 12, 2017 by jonathon1289

[Erik88]

I want to add that if you are impacted and decide to put a freeze on your credit(highly recommended) then you have to do so with all 3 credit monitoring companies. Equifax has suspended the fees for 30 days after being pressured to do so. Experian and transunion will each charge TN residents $7.50

 

[Erik88]

53 minutes ago, jonathon1289 said:

It took them 4 weeks to announce it publicly too, during which time several executives sold $2 million in stock before that could tank....Saw earlier the Senate plans to investigate. 

I've been following the news on it the past few days. There are multiple lawsuits filed, so get in on the $3.49 you are owed through class action suit...

 

Having known someone who had their identity stolen I do NOT want to experience that. He fought it for years.

Edited September 12, 2017 by Erik88

[bersaguy]

I have not had credit card or any other type of Credit in over 15 years so not sure if they can or will effect me. I have not applied for any type of credit for over 15 years either. I keep all my bank accounts at the minimum allowed so bank accounts would not be interested to the thieves either. Even if they got my information it would do them little to no good because I have a very low credit rating below 500 according to last time I checked a few years ago. It would be hard for them to open up new credit accounts in my name I would think............JMHO

[Erik88]

37 minutes ago, bersaguy said:

I have not had credit card or any other type of Credit in over 15 years so not sure if they can or will effect me. I have not applied for any type of credit for over 15 years either. I keep all my bank accounts at the minimum allowed so bank accounts would not be interested to the thieves either. Even if they got my information it would do them little to no good because I have a very low credit rating below 500 according to last time I checked a few years ago. It would be hard for them to open up new credit accounts in my name I would think............JMHO

Not necessarily true. They can also steal your tax return. 

[bersaguy]

23 minutes ago, Erik88 said:

Not necessarily true. They can also steal your tax return. 

What tax return???  I have not filed or got one of them since 1993. I live below the poverty level by about $10,000.00. Not bragging or complaining. Just living day by day and existing....... 

[GlockSpock]

I froze my credit at the three agencies. Need to do it for my wife.


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[Slappy]

Dave Ramsey's wife got her identity stolen as a result of the equifax breach and they haven't used any form of credit in over 30 years. In fact her credit score is undeterminable. 

Im glad I used his recommendation for Identity Theft Protection and signed my family up through Zander Insurance. It's not if your crap gets stolen, it's when. 

[Slappy]

Oh and by using equifaxes free credit monitoring service (because they've proven to be reliable right?) in the fine print you wave your right to sue them in the forthcoming class action lawsuit. 

 

Whats messed up is they have all our info and our kids info. We never gave it to them, they just have it.  We have no say so at all. 

[xsubsailor]

38 minutes ago, Slappy said:

Oh and by using equifaxes free credit monitoring service (because they've proven to be reliable right?) in the fine print you wave your right to sue them in the forthcoming class action lawsuit. 

I think that just changed.

Equifax has removed a clause from the Terms of Use section of the website set up to help victims of the company’s data breach that previously barred victims from suing Equifax if they used the company’s services.

 

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/09/12/equifax-removes-clause-barring-data-breach-victims-from-suing-if-they-use-companys-help/

[Slappy]

Ok I stand corrected there. Thank you  

However....that's some shady stuff. 

Edited September 12, 2017 by Slappy

[TNMTBik3r]

I agree that using the monitoring service offered by the hacked company doesn't make the most sense. I'm not signing up for it, would never trust it.

I keep a close eye on our various accounts and credit through Credit Karma but think I am going to check on LifeLock or similar services after this hack. 

[dawgdoc]

When I checked to see if anyone in our family are "potentially" impacted, it said my wife, myself, and my 16 month-old daughter are potentially impacted, but my 11-year old son was not.  Why would they have the SSN of a baby for any reason?  I can't even think of anywhere other than the government and her pediatrician that might even know the number.  Does it mean some illegal alien randomly generated a SSN that happened to match my baby's?

I checked our credit reports this week and found nothing unusual so far, although the Equifax website crashed when trying to access my wife's credit report, so we still don't have that, but the other two agencies did not have anything weird.  The website annualcreditreport.com won't let me check my baby's credit report online, but they say that none of the three agencies should generally have a report on a minor, which has me worried about the Equifax thing.

[dawgdoc]

So, I decided to sign up for Equifax identity theft monitoring.  I know, it seems stupid to trust the company who screwed up in the first place, but they already have all our personal information anyway, and I can use it as a double check if I find any problems.  However, even though my baby's SSN is potentially compromised, it won't let minors sign up for identity theft monitoring.  So I called the number on their EquifaxSecurity2017 website.  The representative was completely unhelpful.  She said that Equifax "generally doesn't" have information on minors, but she could not answer why my daughter is potentially impacted.  She said I would have to call Equifax but this number was just the "incident response line," which seems like this is part of the "incident."  When I asked for the number to call, she said that they didn't have a number for me to call at Equifax!  Trying to contact Equifax and talk to a live person has been futile.  It appears that they only way I can contact them directly about my child would be to send a load of personal documents (copies of both our SS cards, official copies of birth certificates, etc.) by mail.  If they don't have my daughter in their system, then I'm not too keen on giving them even more information.

So I complained through the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.  If Equifax had any sense, they will quickly answer my simple question--is anyone using my daughter's SSN in their database? Once I know that information, then I can decide how much further exposure I want to risk.  I'm a little steamed right now.  In the Equifax comment form, I told them I hope the government regulates them out of existence.

[Jeb48]

I ended up doing a Fraud Alert with Experian. That gives me 3 months to decide what to do next. Fraud Alerts are suppose to cover all services when you file it with one. I also check current credit and all looked ok.

[TripleGGG]

46 minutes ago, Jeb48 said:

I ended up doing a Fraud Alert with Experian. That gives me 3 months to decide what to do next. Fraud Alerts are suppose to cover all services when you file it with one. I also check current credit and all looked ok.

I did the same for my wife and I. Interesting that we both showed  as potentially compromised, I then put in last name of Test and social as 123456 and it is potentially compromised as well. Go figure. I also use Identity Force for monitoring. No way would I pay Equifax one dime for any service they say they can provide.

[Erik88]

So after freezing my credit My scores dropped 7 points. It might be a coincidence but I doubt it. My score has been climbing since May and nothing changed for me otherwise. 

 

Bastards.

[Steelharp]

Guess I should be thankful my credit sucks and I can't do anything right now.

[mikegideon]

40 minutes ago, Steelharp said:

Guess I should be thankful my credit sucks and I can't do anything right now.

Are you saying that if they stole your identity, they would give it back?

[Steelharp]

1 hour ago, mikegideon said:

Are you saying that if they stole your identity, they would give it back?

Exactly.

[bersaguy]

24 minutes ago, Steelharp said:

Exactly.

I don't know what my credit looks like because I have not had any in over 15 years and don't want any. If I want something I save up until I can pay cash for it or I just do without it.........JMHO

[Wingshooter]

Well, I just got a call from AT&T that someone else was trying to open a new account in my name with my SSN. She said they were able to determin it was fraud, and they are correct. About an hour after that phone call, I started getting fraud text alerts from my bank. Fraudulent charges were coming through, and someone was in the process of hacking the account changing the phone number and password while I was talking to the rep. I was able to get the account secured, card cancelled and an investigation started, but WOW! It seems I caught my ID being stolen early. Now I just need to lock it down. I was part of that Equifax breach.

So now what? Freeze all three credit bureaus AND Lifelock? just Lifelock? Just freeze my credit? Is there any negative to freezing my credit since I want to get a new home loan soon?

Edited January 12, 2018 by Wingshooter

[Omega]

Lock it down, you can always unlock it when you need it.  If they are to be believed, I was not part of it, this time, but have had my info lost at least three or four times in the past, Army, VA, DOD, all lost my info.

[Wingshooter]

Froze the 3 major credit companies and called my banks and got on a fraud alert with them. I cancelled the card that was getting hit with fraudulent charges.

 

What about 401k ?? Lifelock claims that can be stolen too. Are they just trying to sell their service, or is this a valid concern? Someone tried to use my name, address and SSN to open an account today, so my info has been compromised.