No doubt you have heard of the massive Equifax data breach that has affected 143 million people. The list of sensitive information accessed is frightening; names, social security numbers, birth dates, addresses and in some (much fewer) cases driver’s license numbers, and credit card numbers. The first step you must take is to find out if you may have been affected.
Are you at risk?
To find out if you may have been affected, you can go to:
https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/ and scroll down to the bottom to the potential impact tab. It will ask for your last name and last six digits of your social security number. If you find that you are indeed at risk, the next steps are to monitor and protect.
The most powerful tool you can utilize to protect yourself.
If you have been affected by this data breach, we recommend you contact each credit bureau right away and place a credit freeze on your file to restrict access to your credit report. A credit freeze is a powerful tool you can use to prevent identity thieves from opening up new accounts in your name (because most creditors will need to see a credit report before opening up a new account.). It does not, however, restrict access to your existing accounts, so it is vital that you continue to monitor those.
Freezing your credit reports does not affect your credit score. While fees vary, you can expect to pay a one-time fee of around $10. However, Equifax is offering a year of free credit report monitoring and a free credit report freeze; you have until Nov. 21st to enroll. Despite the cost, we believe it is money well spent.
When you call, be prepared to give them your name, address, birthday, and social security number. They will provide you with a pin number that you will need to unfreeze your credit reports when necessary. It will again cost you the same amount of money to unfreeze your account as it did to freeze it. You will need to unfreeze your credit report if you are opening up new accounts, or perhaps to move or to apply for a job (as landlords and employers often need to pull a credit report.)
Additionally, while asking for a freeze, you should also place a statement on your credit report declaring that you believe you have been affected by the Equifax breach and have put a freeze on your credit report.
You can sign up for a credit freeze online:
- https://www.freeze.equifax.com/Freeze/jsp/SFF_PersonalIDInfo.jsp
- https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
- https://www.transunion.com/product/trueidentity-free-identity-protection
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Or by phone:
- Equifax: 1-800-349-9960
- Experian: 1-888-397-3742
- TransUnion: 1-888-909-8872
For more information, and to learn additional things you can do to protect yourself, go to https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2017/09/equifax-data-breach-what-do