{"id":2070,"date":"2017-09-14T12:08:49","date_gmt":"2017-09-14T19:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/?p=2070"},"modified":"2020-03-11T23:57:17","modified_gmt":"2020-03-11T23:57:17","slug":"the-equifax-data-breach-what-should-i-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/the-equifax-data-breach-what-should-i-do\/","title":{"rendered":"The Equifax Data Breach – What Should I Do?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Equifax Data Breach<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you have a credit report, it\u2019s likely that you\u2019re one of the over 140 million Americans whose sensitive personal information was accessed through a data breach at Equifax, one of the nation\u2019s three major credit reporting agencies. The other major agencies are Experian and TransUnion.<\/p>\n

According to Equifax, this is what occurred. Hackers were able to access Equifax\u2019s data from mid-May through July. The hackers were able to access people\u2019s names, their Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some cases, their driver\u2019s license numbers. Equifax has indicated that over 200,000 people also has their credit card numbers stolen, and over 180,000 had dispute documents with personal identifying information compromised.
\n
\nWhat Should I Do?<\/strong>
\nAccording to the US Federal Trade Commission, there are several steps you can take to prevent your information from being misused.<\/p>\n

Visit Equifax\u2019s website, https:\/\/www.equifaxsecurity2017.com\/<\/a>, and find out if your information was exposed. Note that this site is not controlled by the FTC.<\/p>\n

Click on the \u201cPotential Impact\u201d tab and enter your last name and the last six digits of your Social Security number. Your Social Security number is sensitive information, so make sure you\u2019re on a secure computer and an encrypted network connection any time you enter it. The Equifax site will tell you if you\u2019ve been affected by this breach. Note that some tech experts have said that every name entered into the Equifax website is generating a positive result.<\/p>\n

Whether or not your information was exposed, American consumers are eligible for a year of free credit monitoring and other services. The Equifax site will give you a date when you can come back to enroll. Write down the date and come back to the site and click \u201cEnroll\u201d on that date. You have until November 21, 2017 to enroll.<\/p>\n

Here are some other steps to take to help protect yourself after a data breach:<\/p>\n

Check your credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion \u2013 for free \u2013 by visiting https:\/\/www.annualcreditreport.com\/<\/a>. Accounts or activity that you don\u2019t recognize could indicate identity theft. Visit https:\/\/www.identitytheft.gov\/<\/a> to find out what to do.<\/p>\n

Consider placing a credit freeze on your files with the credit reporting agencies. A credit freeze makes it harder for someone to open a new account in your name. Keep in mind that a credit freeze won\u2019t prevent a thief from making charges to your existing accounts. We’ve provided links for the three credit reporting agencies below.<\/p>\n

Monitor your existing credit card and bank accounts closely for charges you don\u2019t recognize.<\/p>\n

If you decide against a credit freeze, consider placing a fraud alert on your files. A fraud alert warns creditors that you may be an identity theft victim and that they should verify that anyone seeking credit in your name really is you.<\/p>\n

If possible, file your 2017 taxes early – as soon as you have the tax information you need, before a thief can. Tax identity theft happens when someone uses your Social Security number to get a tax refund. Respond promptly to letters from the IRS.<\/p>\n

You can request a credit freeze from the three major reporting agencies here:<\/p>\n

TransUnion, at https:\/\/www.transunion.com\/product\/trueidentity-free-identity-protection<\/a>, offers their TrueIndentity program for free<\/p>\n

Experian, at https:\/\/www.experian.com\/freeze\/center.html<\/a>, offers their security freeze (for $10 to Oregon residents, $10 to California residents under age 65, and $10.95 to Washington residents under age 65)<\/p>\n

Equifax, at https:\/\/www.freeze.equifax.com<\/a> or by phone at (800) 685-1111, is currently challenged by phone system and website crashes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Equifax Data Breach If you have a credit report, it\u2019s likely that you\u2019re one of the over 140 million Americans whose sensitive personal information was accessed through a data breach at Equifax, one of the nation\u2019s three major credit reporting agencies. The other major agencies are Experian and TransUnion. According to Equifax, this is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9,11],"tags":[66,107,117,132,136],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/springwaterwealth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}