Equifax Breach - Were You Impacted?
Because we live in a tech savvy society, we must remain proactive in maintaining our personal and business information from reach the worldwide web and becoming an identity theft target. I decided to check into the recent Equifax breach and learn all I could about its impact on U.S. citizens.
Well, I'm glad I did, because I found that I was impacted. According to the recent investigation performed by the Cybersecurity firm Mandiant, they have concluded as of October 2, 2017 the following :
The completed review determined that approximately 2.5 million additional U.S. consumers were potentially impacted, for a total of 145.5 million. Mandiant did not identify any evidence of additional or new attacker activity or any access to new databases or tables. Instead, this additional population of consumers was confirmed during Mandiant’s completion of the remaining investigative tasks and quality assurance procedures built into the investigative process. The completed review also has concluded that there is no evidence the attackers accessed databases located outside of the United States.
Mandiant has also stated the following:
The information accessed primarily includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers. In addition, credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 U.S. consumers, and certain dispute documents with personal identifying information for approximately 182,000 U.S. consumers, were accessed. As part of its investigation of this application vulnerability, Equifax also identified unauthorized access to limited personal information for certain UK and Canadian residents. Equifax will work with UK and Canadian regulators to determine appropriate next steps. The company has found no evidence that personal information of consumers in any other country has been impacted.
To determine if you were targeted and what steps you need to take to further protect yourself, you can go to Equifax's website and put in your information (that is at least placed on a secure sight) and you will receive an immediate response if you were or were not impacted with the Equifax breach.
To verify your status go to: https://equifaxsecurity2017.co... and click on the "Am I impacted" link. As an alternative, you can contact a dedicated call center at 866-447-7559, which the company set up to assist consumers. The call center is open every day (including weekends) from 7:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m. Eastern time. Equifax wil also send out direct mail to consumeras who have been breached. I would not suggest waiting for that to arrive since Equifax knew of the breach
If you find your personal information has been impacted, you will also have the opportunity to sign up for free credit monitoring through TrustedID Premier. This will include 3-Bureau credit monitoring of Equifax, Experian and TransUnion credit reports; copies of Equifax credit reports; the ability to lock and unlock Equifax credit reports; identity theft insurance; and Internet scanning for Social Security numbers – all complimentary to U.S. consumers for one year. The website also provides additional information on steps consumers can take to protect their personal information.
To enroll in TrustedID Premier, you will be asked to provide additional information to verify your identity including a valid email address and mobile number. Within a few days, you will receive an email with a link to activate TrustedID Premier. When you begin, you will be asked to provide your last name and the last six digits of your Social Security number so we can determine if you may have been impacted by this incident. Regardless of whether your information may have been impacted or not, they will provide you the option to enroll in TrustedID Premier.
When the email arrives, follow the link to verify your email address and complete your enrollment. You will create a password and verify your identity by answering a few brief questions that only you should know. TrustedID Premier will then be active. The enrollment period ends on Wednesday, January 31, 2018 instead of November 21, 2017.
To apply for free one year credit monitoring, you will need to click on a link that looks like this:
I pray you were not impacted, but if you were, you can further protect your assests by taking advantage of the free credit and protection monitoring. I did and would even if I were not affected by the Equifax breach. I am Phildora, and I approve this message.
Recent Comments
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Thank you for spreading awareness about this issue, Phildora! I, too, was affected by the Equifax security breach. Do you know if that also impacts TransUnion and Experian security as well?
Hi JcZola, I'm also sorry to hear that you were impacted as well.
According to the independent cybersecurity firm, Mandiant, the only Credit Reporting Agency affected with a breach has been Equifax.
However, you can have free credit monitoring for one year through TrustedIDPremier where they will monitor your personal information appearing on known suspicious websites, internet scanning for your social security numbers, and identity theft insurance. TrustedIDPermier will do this for all 3 credit bureaus for you if you choose to enroll. You can have this for free wheter you were impacted or not.
I also added an "Initial Fraud Alert" on my account which I can extend every 90 days. Equifax will request the same on my behalf with both Transunion and Experian--I've already received their confirmations. This means no one can open any new account unless they provide positive ID they are me. I opted for this instead of a "Freeze" on my accounts--which is more of a hassle if I need to apply for a new account. A "Fraud Alert" means when I apply for a new account, I will be asked questions that only I can provide.
So far, I have only found a duplicate charge on my bank statement since this was announced on September 7th. My claims department has already reversed those charges.
Hope this helps--let me know if you have other questions.
Thank you for the very helpful information, Phildora! I'm sorry that your security was impacted, too, but I'm happy to hear that you've made the right moves to protect your info. I, too, agree that using TrustedIDPremier is much more effective and practical than freezing your credit. :) Cheers!
Very information and well presented article. This was one of the biggest breach in U.S. history. People rely on services which deal with their credit history and if one cannot trust information to be secure from that then might as well go back to taking it off the internet. The problem is that security software is man-made. Any piece of software that is programmed by an individual can be vulnerable to hacking or script injection from another individual. I always hear of sites or servers being hacked because of all the technology that is out there. One has to be very careful when providing their sensitive information through the Internet and ensure that the specific site where they put their information is encrypted and secure. There is no guarantee but read reviews, what industry often gets hacked, the platform such as Windows or Mac, web browsers. All these are trails for hackers to monitor and try to breach. The only advice I would give with regards to internet security is to be vigilant and know the sources. If unsure, contact the company to confirm emails received are from them and the site where you are trying to purchase the product or service is indeed monitored by them.
Sam
Sam, this is great advice we should all follow! Sometimes, even the most trusted institutions have fallen prey. We have to be more proactive instead of reactive.
That is very helpful information to have. This is a serious breach of personal files, and it is this type of activity that causes concern in the health community for those of us whose medical records are online.
Tanya, according to Equifax and Mandiant, the cyber security investigators, the list of what information an individual was targeted with is not given. As a result, I decided to place an "Initial Fraud Alert" on my Equifax account. This way no one can open any accounts with positive identification be presented. This is effective for 90 days and I can renew this type of alert should I choose to.
Equifax will also notify the other credit bureaus on my behalf to also place an "Initial Fraud Alert" on their accounts.
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Hi Phildora,
great article. Fortunately I live in Australia and wasn't impacted. But so happy I wasn't! That is scary stuff. Glad you came out of it ok. This kind of stuff can happen to anyone so thanks for the reminder to secure and protect online. Best wishes to you, Kev :)
Thank you Kev, I'm glad that Australia was not one of the countries affected. I agree we must be proactve when it comes to security measures online.