Looks like Equifax was breached

[Gumby]

This FAQ thread may be helpful

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f47/faq-identity-theft-online-security-privacy-76730.html

 

[Ian S]

Free monitoring service?! What, proffered by the same folks that allowed the data breach to happen?

Perhaps those in the know might offer a quick primer on how to freeze one's own credit.

See this article from Consumers Union Consumers Union’s guide to security freeze protection | Consumers Union

You have to do it at each credit bureau and there's a fee depending on your state law.

 

[aja8888]

Even though my three credit agencies are frozen, they still stole my information and credit card numbers. Maybe they can use my credit cards, but they won't be able to buy a house in my name (I hope).

I am sure losing faith in these so called credit agencies.

 

[Dawg52]

News report https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/07/cre...entially-affect-143-million-us-consumers.html

Looks like they've waited 5 weeks to tell us. Now we'll wait and see what they suggest we do - besides subscribe to their credit protection service.

This is bad news. Consumers need some type of protection from this.

ETA - Equifax web site set up for consumers to verify if they are affected. https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com. The link includes the Equifax press release

I can you tell if you have been impacted? I went to the site and it just comes back like others saying remember 9/12/17 as you will not receive reminders. Am I to assume this means I fall into the impacted group?

 

[Gumby]

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I can you tell if you have been impacted? I went to the site and it just comes back like others saying remember 9/12/17 as you will not receive reminders. Am I to assume this means I fall into the impacted group?

I got the same message. I assume it means I was affected.

 

[audreyh1]

The instructions say you will be enrolled in TrustedID regardless of your status, so how can that be an indication of compromise or not?

 

[cathy63]

I can you tell if you have been impacted? I went to the site and it just comes back like others saying remember 9/12/17 as you will not receive reminders. Am I to assume this means I fall into the impacted group?

Yes, I believe it means you were affected. That's the message I got as well.

When I put in DH's info it says:

Thank You
Based on the information provided, we believe that your personal information was not impacted by this incident.

Click the button below to continue your enrollment in TrustedID Premier
​

Then when I click the button for him, it gives a date of 9/15. So I would say if you are not seeing the "not impacted" message, then you were indeed impacted.

 

[freetodream]

Read the first sentence copied from a google search about the breach:

"Bloomberg reports that three Equifax senior executives sold shares worth almost $1.8m in the days after the company discovered the breach – but before Thursday’s disclosure. That’s bound to fuel anger from customers who will want to know why."

Wow is all I can say...........

 

[Gumby]

Read the first sentence copied from a google search about the breach:

"Bloomberg reports that three Equifax senior executives sold shares worth almost $1.8m in the days after the company discovered the breach – but before Thursday’s disclosure. That’s bound to fuel anger from customers who will want to know why."

Wow is all I can say...........

Someone is going to need expensive lawyers for this.

 

[KCGeezer]

Well I'm apparently on the list as well. To rub salt in it, apparently I can't put a freeze in place either. Transunion locked up and said I had to call. Can't get to a live body. Equifax online freeze system 'lost network connection' at the same step 3 times in a row. Guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow.

 

[Rustic23]

I put my info in and it said, I was not in the effected group. I put DW's in and it sent me to the sign up sight. SO, I put my number in again and it sent me to the sign up site. Not sure they have their Stuff together!

 

[Bestwifeever]

Every time I have to come up with answers to "security questions" that are impossible to remember (my childhood best friend? C'mon, I went to seven different schools!), change a password to be at least twelve characters long and incorporate an uppercase letter and a nonalphanumeric character, and certify that I am not a bot by clicking on blurry squares that include street signs, I think about how all my information is just going to be stolen in a massive hacking of digital records, no password required.

 

[aja8888]

Our credit has been frozen for about two years now. Tonight, I just added fraud alerts on our credit cards that didn't have them already. Do we REALLY need to sign up for the "free" year of credit monitoring from them?

I wonder if the *breach* included stealing our usernames and passwords that we used to lock/freeze our credit with them?

 

[easysurfer]

Don't want to be the bearer of bad news. But when I got my SSN hacked from the IRS Transcript hack, I had to send in a form to the IRS so that in the future, for taxes, I get a postcard with a PIN required for filing.

So, I'm thinking, with the Equifax breach, if your SSN got stolen, don't you have to let the IRS know too. Otherwise, couldn't anybody with your SSN fill out a fake tax return?

Don't quote me ... Just thinkin' aloud .

 

[Fermion]

The IRS has to assume that everyone got hacked so that would be silly to need to notify them. 150,000,000 people is half the population.

I think it is time we stopped using SS# for identification and credit reporting. Even yahoo mail requires more security now than 9 digits

 

[GrayHare]

Nothing will improve in this area until the banks and credit bureaus have more skin in the game.

 

[easysurfer]

The IRS has to assume that everyone got hacked so that would be silly to need to notify them. 150,000,000 people is half the population.

I think it is time we stopped using SS# for identification and credit reporting. Even yahoo mail requires more security now than 9 digits

Will be interesting to see how the IRS handles this. Will they require everyone to use a postcard PIN? To be continued, I guess.

 

[Fermion]

So EFX is down some 13% in after hours. I might buy some puts tomorrow because this baby is going down some more.

 

[FIREd]

It was only a question of time. With the credit bureaus collecting so much information on all of us, they are the ideal target.

 

[growing_older]

"Bloomberg reports that three Equifax senior executives sold shares worth almost $1.8m in the days after the company discovered the breach – but before Thursday’s disclosure. That’s bound to fuel anger from customers who will want to know why."

Seems like pretty obvious insider trading. Will be interesting to see if it gets prosecuted.

 

[easysurfer]

Maybe EquiFax should change it's name to EquiLax?

 

[MichaelB]

Maybe EquiFax should change it's name to EquiLax?

Trademark that!

 

[easysurfer]

Okay, so I click on the EquiFax link to check if my info was compromised. Firefox flags the site a phishing and deceptive. I don't think the site is phishing since in the news. But still... .

Checked and got the result of, as Maury Povich says, "I am NOT the father".

In other words, looks like not impacted .

 

[Fermion]

Thinking about it overnight, I think this event will actually greatly increase the earnings of all three major credit reporting agencies.

The reason is the $10 to freeze your credit and $10 for each temp thaw/refreeze.

If only 10% of the 150,000,000 people decide now to freeze their credit, and do about three thaws a year like we have, then you are talking an increase in revenue of $900 million a year. FOR DOING NOTHING

Might actually be time to buy Equifax stock on a dip.

 

[Sojourner]

Not impacted... whew. I think I'll still enroll in the credit monitoring service, since it's free, unless there's some sort of downside to it that I'm not aware of.