Equifax Data Breach? HOWTO Check if your information is compromised.

My expectation for Equifax and other credit reporting bureaus is high to protect our personal information e.g. Names, Social Security Number, Birthdates, Addresses, and in some cases Drivers License. These information are very important and needed to open a credit card account, get a car loan, and obtain a mortgage. Guess what, those information are stolen about 143 Million Americans, almost half of US Population. This was discovered between mid May to July 29, but only announced last Thursday September 7, 2017.

This was acknowledged and announced by Rick Smith, Chairman and CEO of Equifax posted a video at their website https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com.

How to check if your personal information is potentially impacted. If you’re using a credit card, have a car loan or a mortgage most likely you’re one of the 143 million Americans.

Visit their official Cybersecurity Incident consumer information website: https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com

Click on “CHECK POTENTIAL IMPACT” link. You will enter your last name and last 6 digits of Social Security Number. And you will see something like this if you’re one of the 143 million users.

Before you click Enroll, you may want to read Krebs on Security related to Equifax website woes. After reading that post, will you still use their free service to sign up for complimentary identity theft protection and credit file monitoring? In my humble opinion, Equifax service should be free forever because of exposing and not protecting our personal identifiable information.

Keep in mind, our social security number and birth date will not going to change. So, our personal identity is exposed forever.

If you really hate Equifax service, you can get a free credit report from this website https://www.usa.gov/credit-reports.

Interesting update from Equifax.

September 8, 2017

We understand that some consumers are experiencing difficulties getting the answers and support they need through our website and call center. Ramping up the website and call center to handle the anticipated volume is ongoing and we are focused on making improvements as quickly as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience this process has created.

Thus far today, we’ve made the following adjustments:

1). YOU CAN DETERMINE YOUR STATUS IMMEDIATELY
Some consumers who visited the website soon after its launch failed to receive confirmation clarifying whether or not they were potentially impacted. That issue is now resolved, and we encourage those consumers to revisit the site to receive a response that clarifies their status.

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.

3). EXPANDED OUR CALL CENTER
We have tripled our call center team to over 2000 agents and continue to add agents.

Our goal is to make this process as convenient and consistent as possible. We will continue to identify steps to improve this process.

And we will continue as well to listen to your comments and suggestions.

 

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