Equifax Data Breach
- L. McKinley
- Sep 12, 2017
- 1 min read
What to do Now:
Go to https://identitytheft.gov/ to get an overview of the steps to take when you are a victim of identity theft.
Go to www.annualcreditreport.com to request free copies of your credit reports if you haven’t requested any of them yet this year.
You should visit the Equifax site if you haven't already http://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/ and follow the steps to find out if your information has been exposed. My info has been exposed. So I’m right there with you.
You can also enroll in the free credit monitoring they are offering if you choose. But, be advised, there are alternative credit monitoring services available although not all of them are free and it is wise to be leery of signing up for any service being offered by Equifax.
You should contact TransUnion and Experian to either put a freeze or fraud alert on your file. Here's an overview of the difference, https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs#difference
Each company also offers credit monitoring services. If the actions of Equifax have weakened your trust in Experian and TransUnion, I don’t blame you. There are alternative credit monitoring services available but contacting TransUnion and Experian is a good place to start.
*If you decide to put a freeze on your credit file, you may need to unfreeze your credit file at some point which may incur some fees. Unfreezing will be required if you will be applying for any new accounts in the near future(mortgage, auto loan/lease, student loan, etc).
Tried applying for a credit card recently, and the bank told me they couldn’t proceed because equifax has me as deceased in their system. I was shocked. Spent hours on the phone with their support, and they just kept asking for more documentation to "prove I'm alive." It felt like I had to jump through hoops just to get it fixed. It’s ridiculous that such an error can lock you out of your credit or any financial transactions. After a week of back and forth, they finally removed the flag, but I’m still dealing with some lingering effects. For anyone who’s facing this, it’s worth pushing back and keeping records of all your communications. You shouldn’t have to prove you're…