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Equifax, one of the three credit monitoring bureaus, was hacked and about 44% of Americans (143 million) were impacted. The hackers were able to access the names, addressed, Social Security numbers, birthdates, and possibly credit card numbers and driver’s license numbers.
According to Equifax, their investigation determined that the unauthorized access occurred from mid-May through July 2017. The company has reported that they found no evidence of unauthorized activity on Equifax’s core consumer or commercial credit reporting databases.
Rick Smith, Chairman and CEO of Equifax, gave a video report on the Cybersecurity Incident involving consumer data.
Were you impacted?
To check if you were impacted and enroll in Equifax’s free TrustedID monitoring, go to https://www.EquifaxSecurity2017.com/. Click the “Potential Impact” and then “Check Potential Impact” button to see if you were impacted. The enrollment period ends November 21, 2017.
What to do if you were impacted?
Enroll in Equifax’s TrustedID credit monitoring which monitors all three credit bureaus for one year. You will receive an enrollment date when it takes effect. On this date, you can “lock” your credit report to prevent access to your Equifax credit report by third parties with certain exceptions. When you need new credit, you can unlock it, and then lock it again after you’re done.
On an ongoing basis, it’s a best practice to review your free credit report annually from the three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) on https://www.AnnualCreditReport.com to spot suspicious activity or accounts you don’t recognize that may be signs of identity theft.
For more information on how to protect and manage your finances and wealth, contact Bill Friebel, CFP® at Bill@StarfoxFinancial.com or 281-764-8240.
