If you haven’t heard, credit monitoring company Equifax was hacked a few months ago. Equifax discovered the hack July 29, but waited until Sept 7, 2017 to warn consumers. I don’t think that was ethical to wait so long, but I’m sure they had their reasons.
The hackers gained access to company data that potentially compromised sensitive information for 143 million American consumers, including Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers.
This data is enough for crooks to hijack the identities of people whose credentials were stolen through no fault of their own, potentially wreaking havoc on their lives.
“This is about as bad as it gets,” said Pamela Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, a nonprofit research group. “If you have a credit report, chances are you may be in this breach. The chances are much better than 50 percent.”
What can you do? You can freeze your credit records which allows nobody to see them without your explicit permission. Google “Experian Security Freeze”, “Innovis Security Freeze”, “TransUnion Security Freeze” and “Equifax Security Freeze” and follow the directions.
Here are the links for your convenience:
Experian: https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
Equifax: https://www.freeze.equifax.com/
TransUnion: https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze/place-credit-freeze2
Innovis: https://www.innovis.com/securityFreeze/index
Depending on the State you live in, you may have to pay a fee. I paid a total of $20 to freeze both my wife’s and my credit records.
Next, if you don’t have a current copy of your credit report, I suggest you get a copy of your credit report. It’s free to you. Go here for more information: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0155-free-credit-reports
Once you get that, find all the credit card, line of credit or other credit instruments you have but no longer use. Close all of the ones you stopped using.
I hope everyone reading this takes my advice.
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