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Anthem Hacked: 80 million customers
02-05-2015, 07:52 AM
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#1
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,994
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Anthem Hacked: 80 million customers
I'm sure most of you know that Anthem healthcare was hacked and 80 million customer and employee records were compromised. Supposedly the hackers did not get financial information but did get SSN numbers, names, addresses, etc. I received an email from Anthem last night and am concerned about identity theft. I'd put a link in this but it is all over the internet and media.
For those of you that put on credit freezes or took steps to protect your identity can you let me (all of us) know the steps you took and/or what companies you used if you were not able to do some of this yourself(Lifelock??).
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02-05-2015, 08:00 AM
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#2
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Northern Ohio
Posts: 3,182
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Most people can do this themselves without paying a middleman. There are three companies you need to deal with: Equinox, Experian, and Transunion. Here's a decent guide to doing this:
Credit Freeze and Thaw Guide | www.clarkhoward.com
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02-05-2015, 09:48 AM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 7,422
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They said they'll contact affected people and offer credit monitoring.
That's not as proactive as doing the credit freeze?
You have to pay to freeze and then to thaw later?
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02-05-2015, 09:51 AM
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#4
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: West of the Mississippi
Posts: 17,169
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Credit freezes are easy to do. Just make sure you right down that code to thaw the account and store it where you know it will be safe. And make certain you can remember where you stored it.
Credit monitoring is like closing the barn door after the horse has left, and then looking for clues as to where the horse might have gone.
__________________
Comparison is the thief of joy
The worst decisions are usually made in times of anger and impatience.
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02-05-2015, 09:53 AM
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#5
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 7,422
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Looks like they charge $10 to freeze and what, another $10 to thaw?
Times 3 for the 3 credit bureaus?
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02-05-2015, 09:59 AM
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#6
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: West of the Mississippi
Posts: 17,169
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Quote:
Originally Posted by explanade
Looks like they charge $10 to freeze and what, another $10 to thaw?
Times 3 for the 3 credit bureaus?
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Not quite. The price varies by state. Usually, it is for a round trip, so the $10 would be for a freeze and a thaw. Or they simply say the thaw is free. Some states are as little as $3, IIRC. And some are free if one is over 65.
I usually put a time limit on the thaws, say for a week or two, do all my credit bureau type stuff and then let the account re-freeze automatically. It's a bit of a pain, but nothing compared to getting one's credit identity stolen or misused. Now that is a real headache and can cost a lot if one needs to involve a lawyer.
__________________
Comparison is the thief of joy
The worst decisions are usually made in times of anger and impatience.
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02-05-2015, 10:12 AM
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#7
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Northern Ohio
Posts: 3,182
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuckanut
I usually put a time limit on the thaws, sayr for a week or two, do all my credit bureau type stuff and then let the account re-freeze automatically. It's a bit of a pain, but nothing compared to getting one's credit identity stolen or misused. Now that is a real headache and can cost a lot if one needs to involve a lawyer.
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Also, you don't necessarily have to thaw all three.
The only time I ever have thawed my account was for identity confirmation. In this case I knew which company they were using, so I just thawed that one. $10 - NBD
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02-05-2015, 10:17 AM
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#8
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: West of the Mississippi
Posts: 17,169
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Interestingly, in most states one cannot freeze his/her children's accounts. So identify thieves will often impersonate a young person.
The young victims may not know about it until they turn 18 and apply for credit themselves, or somebody shows up at the door with a warrant for their arrest, a court summons, or other nasty surprise. Not so good.
__________________
Comparison is the thief of joy
The worst decisions are usually made in times of anger and impatience.
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02-05-2015, 10:24 AM
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#9
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,994
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Chuckanut and others: Do most of you think this is the primary way to prevent your identity from being stolen? It certainly prevents anyone from obtaining a loan, a credit card or from opening an account in your name.
Also I assume that once "the hacker" determines your credit has been frozen, they may drop the effort on that SSN?
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02-05-2015, 10:28 AM
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#10
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 7,422
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Yeah do you have to only temporarily thaw for an indefinite amount of time?
Equinox says $10 to temporarily or permanently thaw or thaw for a specific party.
When you apply for credit cards, you're not going to know which bureau they use?
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02-05-2015, 10:53 AM
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#11
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,934
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mpeirce
There are three companies you need to deal with: Equinox, Experian, and Transunion.
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Equi fax?
__________________
And if I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know.
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02-05-2015, 10:55 AM
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#12
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Northern Ohio
Posts: 3,182
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Onward
Equifax?
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yeah
Sorry, but I blame automatic spelling correction
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02-05-2015, 11:25 AM
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#13
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,994
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I just finished putting credit freezes on the three credit reporting agencies. That should take care of the credit side. Thanks mpeirce for the link. Now will look into Lifelock to protect the debit side. A friend just told me it saved him this year when someone counterfeited a check.
I'm getting a bit more serious about this now...
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02-05-2015, 11:48 AM
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#14
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Dryer sheet wannabe
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mpeirce
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Thanks for the link, it's most useful.
Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
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02-05-2015, 12:12 PM
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#15
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 11,078
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Readyforachange
Thanks for the link, it's most useful.
Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
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+1
An additional question, for anyone, do both parties of a married couple have to freeze their credit separately? DW has a CC account in her name only, we did that a while ago thinking she would have credit history whenever I depart.
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02-05-2015, 12:37 PM
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#16
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 689
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Has anyone received notification directly from Anthem? It'd be useful to know when these go out en masse.
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02-05-2015, 12:46 PM
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#17
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Northern Ohio
Posts: 3,182
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Quote:
Originally Posted by someguy
Has anyone received notification directly from Anthem? It'd be useful to know when these go out en masse.
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I got an email this morning (sent 12:10 AM EST).
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02-05-2015, 12:47 PM
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#18
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 73
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A couple of things on this.
I'm a current Anthem customer and all I've received is a generic letter with pretty much the information in the press. It said that it may take weeks for the individual messages to be sent.
I believe they probably don't even know what information was leaked, just that it could possibly have affected as many as 80m records (which pretty much sounds like the entire population they've managed for some period of time)
It sounds like they're going to try to narrow down who it really affected and send specific notifications only to those individuals.
It may be difficult for them to figure out exactly who was affected, so they may end up having to contact many people whose data wasn't actually leaked, just on the possibility that it might have been lost.
You can see a copy of the letter and more info at a website they've set up for info on this: www.anthemfacts.com
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02-05-2015, 02:34 PM
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#19
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gone traveling
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: DFW
Posts: 7,586
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Given the information that was supposedly hacked, I think they should provide identity theft protection, not just credit monitoring.
Edit - just went to their website and identity protection service will also be included
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02-05-2015, 02:42 PM
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#20
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Administrator
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: N. Yorkshire
Posts: 34,050
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MRG
An additional question, for anyone, do both parties of a married couple have to freeze their credit separately? DW has a CC account in her name only, we did that a while ago thinking she would have credit history whenever I depart.
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Yes, each person I believe has their own credit report.
I froze mine a couple of years ago after my card was cloned and used to the tune of $23k, but it did not stop DW from getting a card in her own name on her own record last year.
I started a new wireless/data plan with AT&T last month and they said it required a credit check, so I asked which firm they used, and while they were still on the phone went online (Experian?) and did a temporary unfreeze, cost $10.
It was the first time I'd done an unfreeze so was pleased that it was very easy to do.
__________________
Retired in Jan, 2010 at 55, moved to England in May 2016
Enough private pension and SS income to cover all needs
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