I may be one of 77000 whose privacy is compromised.... what now?

[toofrugalformycat]

and it's suggested I should issue a "fraud alert" to the three credit reporting agencies if I'm one of the State of Alaska active or ex employees whose personal information was compromised.

BUT... I've read several different news releases and they give different or ambiguous information as to whether I am indeed one of this group. The State has not contacted me yet (I imagine they'll snail mail me as a retiree) and they just announced this in the news today.

Have any of you ever issued a fraud alert to the credit reporting agencies? Can it ever be undone? Has it bit you later?
I've had some difficulty correcting errors on my credit reports and I don't want to kick that rock over again if I don't need to.

I happened to get a free credit report in mid January (several weeks after the security breach but before PWC admitted the goof) and it was fine.

I'm going to phone the Admin department tomorrow but they are not always helpful either and I'm sure they'll be swamped.

Here's a radio story about the goof up if you're interested:
http://aprn.org/2010/01/28/alaska-news-nightly-january-28-2010/
Scroll down to
"Missing: Personal Information on Thousands of Alaskans"

Thanks in advance for guidance.

 

[KB]

Instead of a fraud alert, why not place a freeze on your credit? I believe it might be $10 or so per account. You can unfreeze if you need to, but the freeze should prevent any activity without a special PIN that you will get.

I just did a search on Fraud alert and Experian has some information on their site fraud alerts and credit freeze.

 

[toofrugalformycat]

Instead of a fraud alert, why not place a freeze on your credit? I believe it might be $10 or so per account. You can unfreeze if you need to, but the freeze should prevent any activity without a special PIN that you will get.

I just did a search on Fraud alert and Experian has some information on their site fraud alerts and credit freeze.

Thanks!

 

[freebird5825]

FWIW, here's some Federal Trade Commission links you may find useful for education and making some proactive moves...

What To Do If Your Personal Information Has Been Compromised
What To Do If Your Personal Information Has Been Compromised

Identity Crisis... What to Do If Your Identity is Stolen
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/idtheft/idt07.shtm

Credit freeze info
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/idtheft/idt05.shtm

Results of a search using keywords "Identity Theft" at
www.ftc.gov
FTC Consumer Information - ID Theft, Privacy, & Security: Identity Theft

Good luck!

 

[akck]

At this point, I would wait to see if you get a letter. My reading is that PWC will hold you harmless if you suffer any financial damages as a result of the breach. Of course, that doesn't help your credit if there is any fraud. Also, PWC probably won't reimburse you if you place the freeze and don't get the letter.

I've gone through this once before when my mortgage company lost personal info and I received the free credit monitoring service. To date, there has not been any fraudulent activity. Chances are that this breach will not result in any fraudulent activity either, as it would likely have occurred quickly if the data was stolen versus just being lost. As another possibly affected person, it will be nice to have my credit monitoring extended out a few years more.

 

[toofrugalformycat]

Thanks, KB, freebird5825, and akck.
I'm sitting tight right now, but all the information you provided is very useful and comforting and I will read the rest of what I haven't already.
I had lunch with some of my current State worker buddies today, and turns out they don't have any more information than I do.
My "private" data is out there so many places already because a few years ago I tried to get private health insurance, that I'm not as uncomfortable about this as maybe I should be. At least it's just my birth date and SSN this time, not every doctor visit and diagnosis I ever had.
Sheesh.

 

[harley]

Instead of a fraud alert, why not place a freeze on your credit? I believe it might be $10 or so per account. You can unfreeze if you need to, but the freeze should prevent any activity without a special PIN that you will get.

I just did a search on Fraud alert and Experian has some information on their site fraud alerts and credit freeze.

You might want to do some research before you try this. It's no big deal if you aren't going to need credit, but if you are it can be a real pain to get the freeze lifted. At least it was a couple of years ago. Hopefully the credit agencies have improved the process, but I wouldn't bet on it. Just an fyi.