Equifax data breach

[dragon813gt]

W/ almost half of all Americans effected it could be a bumpy ride. Keep an eye on your credit report. If they have your SS number it's going to effect you for the rest of your life. I don't trust anyone w/ my information anymore. Expect a large lawsuit over this. Of course only the lawyers will get paid and people will be fighting identity theft for years to come.

[mold maker]

Would this be a good time to ask for a new CC number for your account? Mine is 3 years old and well used. Remembering all the PWs and user names is rediclous, and having to change them is impossible.

[runfiverun]

if you pay cash for everything and have a credit score of 480 this affects you umm somehow?

[white eagle]

it was just a matter of time before it happened
seems our personal information is a secondary thought to
many businesses that store intel on the computer
personally I don't trust any of them but it is what it is and that
is the way the wheels turn these days

[Smoke4320]

Do not Sign up for the trusted ID program on Equifax .. They are pushing this now .. When you sign up there is a clause they that you give up the right to join a class action suit against them .. don't do it

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-some-equifax-customers-have-unwittingly-waived-their-rights-to-a-class-action-lawsuit-2017-09-08

[buggybuilder]

So do I have to contact Equifax or just watch my #'s for the rest of my life?

[Smoke4320]

go tgo Equifax and do a credit freeze .. its free and you can turn off if you need a load or credit check later ..

They try to hid the link its under he heading "Credit Report Assistance" again its free and stops anyone from accessing you EQUIFAX credit report .. if you do this at Transunion and Experian no one can start any credit issues for you ..
just have to reopen at all three with trying to open a new account later

[shell70634]

It's only free in LA if you are over 62. Or identity theft victim which requires police report. Otherwise $10 fee. Other states have fees also.

[DerekP Houston]

Would this be a good time to ask for a new CC number for your account? Mine is 3 years old and well used. Remembering all the PWs and user names is rediclous, and having to change them is impossible.

New CC number won't help at all, they basically leaked everyone's identity with SSN and every other detail.


This is the worst part to me:

"Equifax learned about the hack on July 29, according to an FAQ. Sept. 7, however, was the first day the company publicly announced the hack. "

[Kestrel4k]

[...]
This is the worst part to me:

"Equifax learned about the hack on July 29, according to an FAQ. Sept. 7, however, was the first day the company publicly announced the hack. "
Don't forget that three top Equifax executives sold something like ?$2.5M? worth of their personal stock in the company on ~August 1.

[DerekP Houston]

Don't forget that three top Equifax executives sold something like ?$2.5M? worth of their personal stock in the company on ~August 1.

Shouldn't they be prosecuted for insider trading similar to Martha Stewart? Seems like they knew the stock was going to take a hit once they released that data.

[popper]

IT managers are just computer installers. No idea of computer (or any type) security at all.

[Smoke4320]

It's only free in LA if you are over 62. Or identity theft victim which requires police report. Otherwise $10 fee. Other states have fees also.

Equifax is doing it for free as they have admitted your data was breached ..In NC we get all 3 bureaus for free

[dragon813gt]

New CC number won't help at all, they basically leaked everyone's identity with SSN and every other detail.

Yep, the account numbers don't bother me. It's the SS number and other personal details, like birth date, that do. My CC numbers have been stolen to many times to count. They have fraud protection so I'm not liable. Now w/ the personal info someone can conceivably open all types of cards and loans w/ put you knowing. The scary part is medical fraud where they go and get high dollar procedures under your info. You're guilty into you prove yourself innocent in these cases.

If you fall under the category that R5R mentioned you could still end up w/ a lot of bills in your name. Something tells me this was a state sponsored attack. I'm sure we can all guess who the top two countries would be. Information like this shouldn't be stored together in one place. And it needs to be behind all types of security walls.

[DerekP Houston]

I was really tempted to sign up for LifeLock at this point...until i did a bit of research and found out THEY have been breached numerous times as well. Anyone have a recommended monitoring service that will actually track this all without falling victim to it themselves? It appears easier to just freeze my SSN at this point and not open anything for a year.

[dragon813gt]

I have not researched any of these companies but it's a starting point.
http://www.reviews.com/identity-theft-protection-services/

I need to figure out how to freeze everything. I'm glad I bought the wife a new car two months ago. I don't need any new lines of credit at this point.

[DerekP Houston]

I have not researched any of these companies but it's a starting point.
http://www.reviews.com/identity-theft-protection-services/

I need to figure out how to freeze everything. I'm glad I bought the wife a new car two months ago. I don't need any new lines of credit at this point.

Yeah that was my take too, we have everything we need for now. No point just leaving it an open invitation to ruin my credit. Thanks for the link I'll take a look after I mow the yards.

[WILCO]

if you pay cash for everything and have a credit score of 480 this affects you umm somehow?

Regardless of paying cash and having a 480 credit score, once your identity is compromised it's all downhill even further. Placing one into a third world status for eternity.

[dragon813gt]

Cost me $30.70 and about thirty minutes to freeze all three. Would have taken half the time but I spent twenty minutes on Transunion's site because they make it more complicated then the other two. Not surprisingly Equifax had virtually no identity verification. The other two had deeper questions. I feel a little better now. IMO the fees need to be waived because of this breach. Equifax should cover the costs for the other two and theirs should be free.

[Nueces]

Today, I spent an hour putting a credit check stop on all three agencies. I now have a PIN for each agency that I can use to temporarily undo the stop, so someone I authorize can do a proper credit check. For some time now, I have logged into each bank and credit card account every day, to look for hanky panky. One Saturday last year, I found some African had bought a first class ticket to NYC and had already travelled there. United cancelled his return leg and the bank took the charges off my account. Sorta fun.

I had the same experience as Dragon above, the TransUnion site was a massive PITA to navigate. All the agencies would much prefer that these security stops be put in place as part of their fee for service monitoring programs. Took a while to find a way to get the stop in place without signing up for any of that.

[dragon813gt]

For those that want to place freezes on their accounts.
Experian: https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
Equifax: https://www.freeze.equifax.com/Freeze/jsp/SFF_PersonalIDInfo.jsp
Transunion: https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze/place-credit-freeze

[Wayne Smith]

For those that want to place freezes on their accounts.
Experian: https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
Equifax: https://www.freeze.equifax.com/Freeze/jsp/SFF_PersonalIDInfo.jsp
Transunion: https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze/place-credit-freeze

Thank you. Copied and sent to my wife.

[DerekP Houston]

For those that want to place freezes on their accounts.
Experian: https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
Equifax: https://www.freeze.equifax.com/Freeze/jsp/SFF_PersonalIDInfo.jsp
Transunion: https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze/place-credit-freeze

Thank you!

[CraigOK]

Shouldn't they be prosecuted for insider trading similar to Martha Stewart? Seems like they knew the stock was going to take a hit once they released that data.

I agree

[Kestrel4k]

Shouldn't they be prosecuted for insider trading similar to Martha Stewart? Seems like they knew the stock was going to take a hit once they released that data.
Not exactly the same as Martha Stewart, in that she avoided losses of only ~$46K, while the Equifax exectives avoided losses in excess of $200K+ (and counting).

Martha Stewart got a five-month sentence; somehow I doubt that the Equifax executives will get a proportional sentence. :rolleyes:

---

And yes, have frozen my credit a few years ago; really it's the only (semi-) secure way to live.

[Handloader109]

Btw, according to Dave Ramsey's information, bank of America does credit check on only 20% of the applications it processes. And they do the vast majority of the CC's in the US. Freeze helps, but is not perfect at all. If you are looking at credit monitor, look at his refered company Zander insurance. They are good folks, I don't have service, but have talked with a human working with me on mortgage in the past. Real American, not a Pakistani or Indian

[.45Cole]

FYI I think that each credit reporting company is required to allow one or two free credit reports per year. If you get a credit report from company A then it should show all credit lines against your SSN. Depending on the breach it might not be that bad, I think that a person needs your : SSN, DOB, Full Name, Addy. If all three went then it's a complete package.

Dragon-thanks for the links!

[dragon813gt]

The credit bureaus are allowed to give you one free credit report per year. But each credit report is individual. While they should show the same accounts they don't. I know this first hand because I'm a Junior. I have to go through every year and have some of my father's accounts removed from mine The good news is that neither of us hurt each other. But the credit bureaus should have enough sense to remove an account from my report that was opened before I was born.

At this point I trust no one. I hate the fact that I have no control over my personal information. I should be able to control who and who doesn't have access to my information. The credit bureaus should not be able to sell my info to whoever wants it.

The big issue is you have banks, I will out Bank of America, issuing lines of credits w/ no credit reports. Even if you freeze your credit reports the banks that have access to your reports still do. A lot is broken w/ the current system. As much as I hate federal intervention at some point they have to get involved because capitalism isn't working.

[jonp]

Do not Sign up for the trusted ID program on Equifax .. They are pushing this now .. When you sign up there is a clause they that you give up the right to join a class action suit against them .. don't do it

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-some-equifax-customers-have-unwittingly-waived-their-rights-to-a-class-action-lawsuit-2017-09-08

No they do not. That is for the regular signing up for the service of non-hacked information. They have been quite clear that anyone whose information was hacked do not give up any right to sue. I was one of them.

From Equifax:

Addressing confusion concerning the arbitration and class-action waiver clauses included in the Terms of Use applicable to the product:

: The company never intended for these clauses to apply to this cybersecurity incident.

: Because of consumer concern, the company clarified that those clauses do not apply to this cybersecurity incident or to the complimentary TrustedID Premier offering.

:The company clarified that the clauses will not apply to consumers who signed up before the language was removed.


Sign up for the free service, put a fraud alert on your account and freeze your credit. Request new credit cards from your issuers. Change all of your passwords for every account you have and make them strong with random Caps, symbols, numbers and letters. Request a credit report from each of the 3 agencies. They are free and you should be doing this in a staggered fashion every year alread.

Not much else you can do. Last week someone hacked into my Amazon account and changed my password. Now I know where they got the information from. The hacker(s) were from Russia.

[jonp]

Shouldn't they be prosecuted for insider trading similar to Martha Stewart? Seems like they knew the stock was going to take a hit once they released that data.

Careful with the Martha Stewart case. She was not found guilty of insider trading but obstruction of justice.

This is a good overview of what was going on and you might recognize someone that is in the news concerning another infamous case recently. http://dailycaller.com/2016/07/06/comey-vindictive-in-prosecuting-martha-stewart-lets-clinton-slide/

Those guys that sold stock right after finding out about the hack are in a world of hurt unless it was a previously scheduled sale of stock that senior company execs do to dispose of stock awarded as part of a compensation package. The SEC would know of it because the Execs have to notify them as any block sale of stock by senior mgt can have quite an effect on the stock price.

[woodbutcher]

[smilie=b: Hi Dragon.Had that"Jr" issue with a bank that I and my Father used many years ago.The idiots were putting my money in my Fathers account and sending back my checks back marked insufficient funds.Raised enough fuss to get the head book keeper and the assistant head book keeper fired.That fixed the problem.Their husbands were not happy.Got a few threats.Called the cops,and that ended that.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[dragon813gt]

We don't use the same bank to avoid confusion like that. Seems even w/ computerized everything companies can't keep accounts straight. Sirius/XM was the worse. They kept shutting off my service because my mother called to shut off her's, was in my dad's name. I gave up after the third time. The account in my name had my street number, my dad's street name, his phone number and my email. No clue how this could have possibly happened but they managed to. I wanted to give them my money but their incompetence prevented it.

[PbHurler]

FWIW, Here's where you can check to see if your data was affected. Just follow the instructions.

https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/potential-impact/

My place of work sent this out as a company-wide email. I tried it & was told I wasn't compromised. That said, I'll still be closely monitoring my c-card(s) accounts

[marlin39a]

They said my information was not compromised, but my girlfriends was.

[dragon813gt]

I didn't bother checking. It just came out they were first breached in March. I don't trust a word the company says. One of the higher ups sold $1.9 million in stock. This is on top of of $950,000 that was already reported. The SEC is gonna have a field day w/ these guys.

[Smoke4320]

Be very careful now with emails as well.
Wife got one that looked like TransUnion offering her a free credit report. Logos were all there.
looked very much like TransUnion site
The give away was the email address
Plus the fact they don't contact you to offer it

[smokeywolf]

Equifax's database was also breached back in March; they're just now admitting to this. Equifax has proven that they are either incapable or unwilling to keep the personal and financial information of the public safe and secure. As this is part of their business model, their license to do this particular type of business needs to be revoked. They need to be forbidden from collecting and storing any type of information that could expose anyone to personal or financial risk.

[PB234]

I froze my credit files on all three systems today. Better safe than sorry.