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Equifax Data Breach could affect 143 million customers

P

PsychoSoldier

Banned
Via CNBC

Equifax Inc., which supplies credit information and other information services, said Thursday that a data breach could have potentially affected 143 million consumers in the U.S.

The U.S. population was about 324 million as of January 1, 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which means the Equifax incident affects a huge portion of the United States.

Equifax said it discovered the breach on July 29. "Criminals exploited a U.S. website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files," the company said.

Shares of Equifax fell more than 5 percent during after-hours trading.

Leaked data includes names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, addresses and some driver's license numbers. The company added that 209,000 U.S. credit card numbers were also obtained, in addition to "certain dispute documents with personal identifying information for approximately 182,000 U.S. consumers."
Click to expand...


Further info on what to do:
GK86 said:
Put together some info.

How do I check if I am part of the data breach?


Keep two things in mind:
1- The site isn't exactly reliable in terms of telling you whether you have been affected or not.
2- If you ENROLL, it might prevent you from suing the company.

https://trustedidpremier.com/eligibility/eligibility.html

Your best bet is to assume you were affected by the hack.
​

Are Canadian/UKers affected?

Yes, but it is "limited personal information" according to Equifax.​

Setting up a fraud alert:

An initial fraud alert can make it harder for an identity thief to open more accounts in your name. When you have an alert on your report, a business must verify your identity before it issues credit, so it may try to contact you. The initial alert stays on your report for at least 90 days. You can renew it after 90 days. It allows you to order one free copy of your credit report from each of the three credit reporting companies. Be sure the credit reporting companies have your current contact information so they can get in touch with you.
Click to expand...

Links to do so:
TransUnion
Experian
EquiFax​

Setting up a credit freeze:


When you set up a freeze, you will need to set up a PIN. You need the PIN in order to unfreeze the account. Don't lose the PIN!

Also known as a security freeze, this tool lets you restrict access to your credit report, which in turn makes it more difficult for identity thieves to open new accounts in your name. That's because most creditors need to see your credit report before they approve a new account. If they can't see your file, they may not extend the credit.

No. A credit freeze does not affect your credit score.

A credit freeze also does not:

  • prevent you from getting your free annual credit report
  • keep you from opening a new account, applying for a job, renting an apartment, or buying insurance. But if you're doing any of these, you'll need to lift the freeze temporarily, either for a specific time or for a specific party, say, a potential landlord or employer. The cost and lead times to lift a freeze vary, so it's best to check with the credit reporting company in advance.
  • prevent a thief from making charges to your existing accounts. You still need to monitor all bank, credit card and insurance statements for fraudulent transactions.

A freeze remains in place until you ask the credit reporting company to temporarily lift it or remove it altogether. A credit reporting company must lift a freeze no later than three business days after getting your request. The cost to lift a freeze varies by state.

If you opt for a temporary lift because you are applying for credit or a job, and you can find out which credit reporting company the business will contact for your file, you can save some money by lifting the freeze only at that particular company.
Click to expand...

Links:
-Cost by state.

-By phone:
Equifax — 1-800-349-9960
Experian — 1‑888‑397‑3742
TransUnion — 1-888-909-8872

-Online:
Equifax
Experian
TransUnion​
Click to expand...
 
T

teh_pwn

"Saturated fat causes heart disease as much as Brawndo is what plants crave."
God damn.

My id theft insurance may end up being useful.
 
M

Makki

Member
Its not like you have a choice for these fuckers to have your information... so what exactly are they going to do to protect half the US from this shit, issue a "we are sorry"?
 
S

SlipperyFishes

Banned
Makki said:
Its not like you have a choice for these fuckers to have your information... so what exactly are they going to do to protect half the US from this shit, issue a "we are sorry"?
Click to expand...

Three free PS3 games isn't going to cut it this time. Honestly there needs to be a cybersecurity overhaul, including penalties levied for lax security.
 
U

U2NUMB

Member
This is a big one... oh boy.

Think about the impact of this.. people could use data stolen from Equifax.. to then ruin millions of people in the credit department. People will be denied loans and houses by this exact company.
 
T

teh_pwn

"Saturated fat causes heart disease as much as Brawndo is what plants crave."
I always wonder about the accuracy of these 3 firms. One has my address and previous address flipped. You had one job.
 
A

adj_noun

Member
At this point I'm imagining data thieves looking at my info and scoffing, Again?!? We got this guy like eighteen times already.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
Quick math: wikidedia says there are 245m adults in the US. Assuming all of the people on file are adults, that's nearly 60% of the country.

We're boned. Bravo, Equifax.
 
N

Nokterian

Member
GhaleonEB said:
Quick math: wikidedia says there are 245m adults in the US. Assuming all of the people on file are adults, that's nearly 60% of the country.

We're boned. Bravo, Equifax.
Click to expand...

Awful..just awful and staggering they never ever invest in better IT and fucking security of software..unfuckingbelievable.
 
J

JustenP88

I earned 100 Gamerscore™ for collecting 300 widgets and thereby created Trump's America
I just checked my credit score and I swear to dog it just went down 500 points this is all fake reset everything

Vuze said:
143 Million? That’s crazy.
Click to expand...

Yeah, what percentage of American adults who have credit would that be?
 
G

Grimm Fandango

Member
SlipperyFishes said:
Three free PS3 games isn't going to cut it this time. Honestly there needs to be a cybersecurity overhaul, including penalties levied for lax security.
Click to expand...
But what if one of those games is Knack 2?!

Honestly they should provide free credit insurance or a premium monitoring program for everyone affected.
 
G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
Got to be fucking shitting me. There should be a huge penalty for companies when they have a data breach.

How do I check to see if I was affected? How do I monitor this crap?
 
M

MogCakes

Member
So...I guess I need to doublecheck all my credit cards daily now. Also ID thieves have my personal details? I hope heads roll over this. No excuse.
 
Ryzaki009

Ryzaki009

Member
*sigh*

This really should have actual consequences instead of the finger wagging they're gonna get.

Absurd.
 
Z

Zertez

Member
Kind of surprised this hasn't happened sooner. Identity thieves had mountain of data on almost everyone years ago, but it was a lot of raw data. Stealing credit rating scores to speed up this process was bound to happen.
 
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