Equifax breach

[jgenie]

I checked my SSN as well as DH's. I'm hesitant to check for DC. The only place that I've given their SSN to is irs. Are you running your DC number through the checker? TIA

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

[ang79]

I didn't even think about running the girls. DH's said his was OK, but mine was affected. Tried to sign up for the free credit monitoring and it said I have to check back next week to finalize my enrollment. What a mess.

[pinkmomagain]

I tried to run my number and didn't understand the response I got. It just said: "Thank You
Your enrollment date for TrustedID Premier is:" With a date and some other directions. Does that mean I was affected? Will try to call their phone number too to follow up.

[jgenie]

I tried to run my number and didn't understand the response I got. It just said: "Thank You
Your enrollment date for TrustedID Premier is:" With a date and some other directions. Does that mean I was affected? Will try to call their phone number too to follow up.

From what I understand, that means you were affected and are now enrolled in the monitoring they're offering for free. We both have our credit files frozen so we have to contact the credit reporting agencies to have the freeze lifted before trying to get new credit. We've had it since pre kids and it has worked for us. We only need access to credit when buying property and for new insurance policies. I'm considering freezing DC accounts as well. Does anyone have DC credit accounts frozen? TIA

[carolinacool]

DH and I appear to be in the clear. I haven't run DS' yet. I've only used it for insurance purposes, I believe.

[mikala]

Read this before signing up for help on their site...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/the-switch/wp/2017/09/08/what-to-know-before-you-check-equifaxs-data-breach-website/

[robinsmommy]

I am reluctant to trust them based on executive stock sales right after the hack was found. Their board needs to act on that, right now, and make their action public. Their credibility is in the toilet with the sales info out there.

I'm thinking there must be another way to protect credit without using their protection.

Am I the only person who thinks it is nuts that credit agencies can collect and release information on us without explicit permission? And then fail to protect it?

It sounds odd to me that the acts of checking to see if one is hacked and signing up for protection that nullifies your rights to sue aren't better separated/defined. How convenient for Equifax.

[Dream]

Read this before signing up for help on their site...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/the-switch/wp/2017/09/08/what-to-know-before-you-check-equifaxs-data-breach-website/

Yikes, I don't know what to do. Mine is effected.

[scrooks]

It said mine may be affected but I didn't get auto enrolled in anything like a previous poster.
So all of those saying you are affected what did your message say?

[sariana]

You can't do kids on the regular site (annualcreditreport.com) that's recommended by the government. I don't know about other sites.

For kids you have to do it a different way, at least the last time I tried.

[hwin708]

A lot of the tech sites are questioning the validity of Equifax's tool for checking if you were affected, pointing out that when they put in random made-up names and numbers, they were getting back "not affected" answers. Which implies that this is not being run against a database.

And as another user pointed out above, Equifax has some very questionable language in their fine print of their free monitoring. Equifax came out within the last hour to say that language won't be applied to this situation, but that's not exactly reassuring.

Personally, affected or not, I think people are best served by signing up for some form of identity theft monitoring. If it is too much of an additional expense, then I probably would gamble the odds on Equifax's shadiness, and sign up for their free service. But if you can afford the extra expense, then I would suggest signing up for something like Lifelock or IDShield. I personally use IDShield. $20/month for the entire family (me, spouse, kids). Given the increasing frequency of these kind of large scale hacks, it's nice to know that someone is keeping an eye on my vulnerability at all times. Without me having to do much of anything.

[NCGrandma]

It said mine may be affected but I didn't get auto enrolled in anything like a previous poster.
So all of those saying you are affected what did your message say?

I got the same "may be affected" message you did. I didn't click on the option to enroll in whatever they're offering.

For me, I think I'll figure out how to do a credit freeze (which I guess needs to be done separately for each of the 3 agencies). At this point I don't need spontaneous credit so whatever is involved in lifting the freeze shouldn't be a hassle.


Sent from my iPad using Baby Bargains (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87652)

[petesgirl]

Dang it, my message said I was affected.

[robinsmommy]

This article had some good food for thought:

http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/349869-five-questions-about-the-massive-equifax-breach

Apparently, there are questions about the security of the sign up for ID protection, as well as the Equifax site itself. They really made a mess of handling this from start to, well, it may never be finished.

[niccig]

Crappola, I may have been affected. DH wasn't.

How do you put a freeze on your credit?


Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87652)

[NCGrandma]

Crappola, I may have been affected. DH wasn't.

How do you put a freeze on your credit?


Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87652)

This CNN article has some useful tips. I was planning to do a freeze but may decide to do the fraud alert (or both!).

http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/09/pf/what-to-do-equifax-hack/index.html

ETA: oops, the fraud alert may only be appropriate if there is already evidence of some misuse.

Sent from my iPad using Baby Bargains (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87652)

[lizzywednesday]

...

For me, I think I'll figure out how to do a credit freeze (which I guess needs to be done separately for each of the 3 agencies). At this point I don't need spontaneous credit so whatever is involved in lifting the freeze shouldn't be a hassle.

This is an FAQ from the FTC:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs

[NCGrandma]

This is an FAQ from the FTC:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs

Thanks -- very helpful!


Sent from my iPad using Baby Bargains (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87652)

[echoesofspring]

For anyone who's thinking about putting on a credit freeze, DH and I have had one for several years, and it's been relatively painless to do the various things they say you might need access to your credit score for - buy cars (although we paid cash), buy a house and refi (did have to unfreeze for both of these), get a new job (hasn't been an issue, even when I've had to do enterprise-y 'clearance' checks, your mileage might vary - these weren't gov security clearance checks).

One thing I read yesterday that was infuriating is that if you have a credit freeze and you lose your PIN, you can still get the freeze lifted if you can provide your 'personal information'. Which means that someone with your info could unfreeze your credit and commit identity theft, sort of defeating the point of the freeze. So I think the best option may be both a freeze and monitoring. It's such a mess, I really hope this hack results in stricter oversight.

[robinsmommy]

Heads up, the great work at Equifax continues - this time in Argentina. Using "admin" for a login and password both? Really? Even my 10 year old knows better.


http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-41257576

[TwinFoxes]

I found this article to be informative.
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-find-out-if-you-were-affected-by-the-equifax-hac-1806121695

[Twin Mom]

Clark Howard who is a local consumer reporter has lots of info on the breach on his site www.clark.com. He has the links to freeze your credit with all 3 agencies. I just froze mine to be safe. Equifax is free this month due to the breach. The other 2 charge $3 each.

[khm]

Clark Howard who is a local consumer reporter has lots of info on the breach on his site www.clark.com. He has the links to freeze your credit with all 3 agencies. I just froze mine to be safe. Equifax is free this month due to the breach. The other 2 charge $3 each.

It's $10 each person for in my state. Times 2 for Experian and Transunion.

Then fees if we need to lift the freeze. Ugh. That adds up!

[robinsmommy]

It makes no sense to me that there should be fees to freeze or "thaw" under these circumstances. If they screw up, they get to pay for it all. I think Equifax should be covering freezes for everybody, every credit agency. And thawing fees, too - for the next 20 years or however long it takes the government to come up with a better system for social security numbers. And the three people who sold stock should cover part of the costs, personally. I have yet to hear anything that makes me believe that it shouldn't count as insider trading. Businesses may actually take leaks like this seriously, then, and take measures to prevent them better.

It would be $120 to freeze accounts for my family, not counting Equifax's fees.

[AnnieW625]

Thankfully neither DH nor I were affected.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[robinsmommy]

Annie, are you basing that on Equifax's "test" to see if you are affected? All the research I am doing is indicating it may be better to just assume that you are hacked. The info provided by their website doesn't make sense or seem to be based on a database, from what people can tell. One writer put in the name Trump and a random number, and got a hit that way.

I just would hate for anyone to assume they are safe, and not be.

Equifax is going to send a letter to people affected in the UK, according to the BBC. I haven't heard of anything like that for us in the US, which irks me to no end.

from :https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/08/your-money/identity-theft/equifaxs-instructions-are-confusing-heres-what-to-do-now.html

"By Friday morning, this had changed, and I got a “your personal information may have been impacted by this incident” notification. Progress. Except as my friend Justin Soffer pointed out on Twitter, you can enter a random name and number into the site and it will tell you the same thing. Indeed, I typed “Trump” and arbitrary numbers and got the same message.
Continue reading the main story

So my default assumption quickly switched to this: Equifax has no earthly idea who is affected. I tried calling a phone representative for clarification, too, but she gave me incorrect information about the nature of the company’s offer to consumers and then told me to just use the website when I went about correcting her. On Friday evening, the company issued a statement claiming to have fixed the problems and tripled the number of people in its call center."

I am waiting to see something that gives me confidence that Equifax is capable of dealing with the mess they created, or really cares about the people they hurt. I think I may be waiting for a long, long time.

[trcy]

Ok so I am a bit clueless about all of this. According to the test I was not affected and DH may have been. I signed us both up for their 'TrustedID' and we are waiting for the email to complete the registration. Is there anything else we should do?


Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87652)

[*newmomma*]

I signed up for their trusted id crap, it took over a week to get the email, and now when I enter my birthdate to complete my registration it says it is incorrect. Is is such a massive mess and I have zero faith that they are capable of fixing the problem or protecting us! Grrrr �� I froze our credit with all three to be safe.