Equifax Data Breach Survival Tips
As you may have seen all over the news recently, Equifax, who is one of the three major credit bureaus, announced they suffered a data breach that may have affected 143 million US consumers.
Below are some tips to consider to help minimize your exposure to identity theft.
- Check the following link to first determine if Equifax believes your data was part of the breach: https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/potential-impact/
- Request a free copy of your credit report: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action
- Review your bank and financial statements often and use multi-factor authentication with online account as available
- Based on your individual situation, consider placing fraud alerts and/or credit freezes on your accounts with all 3 of the major credit reporting agencies. Some agencies may charge a nominal fee (i.e. $10) each time you place/lift a credit freeze on your report. A detailed comparison between a fraud alert and a credit freeze can be found here: http://www.idtheftcenter.org/Fact-Sheets/fs-124.html
- Do not disclose personal, financial, or password related info over the phone if you did not initiate the call or if you are not dealing with an institution that you are familiar with.
- Be extremely cautious with fake news and fictitious websites offering to help.
- Below is the contact information for the three credit bureaus if you need to contact them directly:
