Equifax

[freezorburn]

Let's use this thread to share thoughts, resources, etc on the Equifax data breach.

As others have mentioned, there are concerns about the arbitration clause in Equifax's credit monitoring agreement that some may find worrisome ... the inability to join a class action suit later, for example. 

I've also seen reports that the tool for checking whether you have been impacted by the data breach, is broken or not working or inaccurate. I think somebody entered "Test 123456" and got a result that they had been impacted.

So for now I've decided to hold off on enrolling in Equifax's monitoring program.

Instead, I'm opting to place credit freezes (my state calls them security freezes) and a fraud alert on my file. It's kind of a PITA. My understanding is that you place a fraud alert with one company, and they will notify the other two. Freezes need to be done with each company. I'm done with one so far, and online has been a pain. Have had better luck on the phone, will summarize my full experience later.


Here are several pages from the FTC that I've found helpful/informative:

www.consumer.ftc.gov/topics/identity-theft?fref=gc&dti=152816745198640

www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs

www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0279-extended-fraud-alerts-and-credit-freezes

The individual states will also have specific laws governing how long these last and what fees, if any, these services cost. Check with your state AG's office.

HTH!

[frozenpeas]

Thank you for posting this all in one place! I think the first thing to do is pull our credit reports, since the breach was a few months ago and we'll want to make sure nothing suspicious is out there already. What do you think?

Then I'm leaning toward placing a freeze, but I have to do a little more research first. Does anyone know of a reason a freeze might not be a good idea?

[freezorburn]

Sept 11, 2017 14:48:48 GMT -5 frozenpeas said:

Thank you for posting this all in one place! I think the first thing to do is pull our credit reports, since the breach was a few months ago and we'll want to make sure nothing suspicious is out there already. What do you think?

Then I'm leaning toward placing a freeze, but I have to do a little more research first. Does anyone know of a reason a freeze might not be a good idea?

I think it never hurts to look at your credit report, especially if you haven't looked in a long time. As it happens, I checked mine sometime in the last couple of months for other reasons.

Also if you tend not to look too closely at your monthly credit card statements, it's always good to check things over.

I actually did have someone try to make fraudulent purchases on my credit card in late July. Thankfully, my issuing bank was totally on top of it ... I guess my spending behavior is just that predictable, and these were some weird charges. They immediately shut down my account and contacted me via text, email and phone. I had a new card in 2 business days. Only downside was I missed an autopayment that month ... and this is actually a good reminder to me to go back through all my autopay accounts to make sure nothing else was missed.

The only reason I can think of to not place a freeze ... if you plan to apply for new credit or a loan, say you are planning to buy a new car or refi your mortgage, you would need to temporarily unfreeze your report so that the lender can see your info. Might be a pain, but personally I would rather have that small hassle and have what little protection is provided by having a freeze.

[freezorburn]

My experience this morning:

TransUnion: problems with their website. I would provide my info and when I got to the security verification stage, it would boot me out. And then I couldn't log in. Tried all sorts of stuff. Was able to place fraud alert and security freeze using their phone system.

Experian: Placed security freeze via website, easy peasy.

Equifax: Tried to place security freeze via website and phone, got "system unavailable" messages. Equifax, you suck.

[welly01]

freezorburn, thanks for posting this info! I will definitely be interested in hearing your experiences later. I've been meaning to pull my credit reports, just need to sit down and do it.

[sudokufan]

After reading here and the other site, I'm thinking of putting a freeze on. Especially given we just bought my car and don't have any other foreseeable needs for credit for awhile. But I already have credit monitoring, "thanks" to the OPM breech awhile back. What a hassle.

[freezorburn]

I would be interested to hear people's experiences with credit monitoring services. What sort of fees are reasonable? How often does the service provide updates? Or do they send an e-newsletter that provides any kind of consumer education, or other useful information? Not that I would have time to read any of that stuff.

[saraml13]

As I mentioned in the other thread, I'm not going to sign up for the free Equifax credit protection. Besides concerns about arbitration clauses, the monitoring is only free for a year, which isn't all that long in the grand scheme of your SSN. Then after that, they would just have my contact info as a potential customer to target to start paying for the service.

In general, my understanding is that the only downside of a credit freeze is it's a pain in the ass if you are planning on adding any credit lines. DH and I are talking about a new car, plus we're considering reconfiguring our checking accounts and credit cards to make better use of rewards and set up different checking/savings accounts for different purposes. So at least for now, I'm not going to freeze my credit because I think it will be too much of a hassle.

Another recommendation I've read is to file your taxes ASAP when you have the available documentation. That reduces the risk of someone with your stolen SSN using it before you.

[2chatter]

I am slow guys. Why would someone else file taxes with my
SSN? Do they like paying?

[welly01]

Sept 11, 2017 15:18:08 GMT -5 freezorburn said:

I would be interested to hear people's experiences with credit monitoring services. What sort of fees are reasonable? How often does the service provide updates? Or do they send an e-newsletter that provides any kind of consumer education, or other useful information? Not that I would have time to read any of that stuff.

A previous company I worked for provided the basic LifeLock service for a nominal fee. I joined and then never heard a peep from the company. I had it for about a year and didn't experience any fraud in that time period. But I wasn't notified about any fraud attempts or things like that. I didn't get calls verifying purchases, etc.

I wasn't impressed and I wouldn't pay for a credit monitoring service in the future.

[welly01]

Sept 11, 2017 15:57:34 GMT -5 2chatter said:

I am slow guys. Why would someone else file taxes with my
SSN? Do they like paying?

They file it with fraudulent info which will result in a tax refund.

[2chatter]

You know how you can set passport alerts if someone tries to get a passport for your kids? (Or - this may just be me, divorced from a foreigner, who had to know this). Is there a "IRS warn me if anyone does anything with my social" program?

[freezorburn]

I've noticed at least two petitions related to the Equifax situation at Moveon.org.

[freezorburn]

Sept 11, 2017 16:21:08 GMT -5 2chatter said:

You know how you can set passport alerts if someone tries to get a passport for your kids? (Or - this may just be me, divorced from a foreigner, who had to know this). Is there a "IRS warn me if anyone does anything with my social" program?

It seems like something has to have happened before you can get an extra level of protection from the various credit rating agencies and government bureaus. 

The gist of what I read this morning was basically that if someone actually uses your ID to steal money or commit other crimes, then you can file a police report and then there is a different set of procedures you go through to clean up and protect your credit.

So, all this sensitive information was stolen, but the thieves have not yet used any of it (to our knowledge) to commit additional crimes. 

The IRS has a process called "Innocent Spouse Relief" that enables an individual to separate themselves from messes that can result from having previously filed jointly with a former spouse. I think there may be other types of relief for different situations. But it's all retroactive. I haven't yet seen anything preventative. But I haven't done a thorough search either.

[msn06]

I won't do a credit monitoring system again. I got it for free after the anthem breech. We started the build process in March and were preapproved for our mortgage too. I didn't receive notification of an inquiry until May. We closed in August and our credit reports were checked again and everything was good then.

I'm going to monitor my cards and check my reports annually for now.

[freezorburn]

I tried the Equifax website once more before bed tonight, and this time my security freeze went through. Wouldn't be surprised if their servers were overwhelmed earlier.

[Covergirl82]

This is all really helpful. I keep an eye on my credit cards and bank accounts at least once a week, but I haven't looked at my credit report in a while, so I will definitely plan to do that.