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Equifax hack exposes personal info of 143 million people (1 Viewer)

TheFanatic said:
But don't all those accounts require money to be put in. We're talking about getting credit extended
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I was pointing out what the article said about opening a checking or saving account specifically. It implied a freeze would negate you being able to open an account. I was pointing out that wasn't necessarily true.

 
So the other thing I did was put push notifications on my credit cards for things like charges where the card is not present (i.e. online), charges over a certain amount, international charges, etc. Have to find out if my credit union has it. I couldn't find it on the site. I have notifications turned on there, but couldn't find any way to control WHAT it notifies me about.

 
DallasDMac said:
So the other thing I did was put push notifications on my credit cards for things like charges where the card is not present (i.e. online), charges over a certain amount, international charges, etc. Have to find out if my credit union has it. I couldn't find it on the site. I have notifications turned on there, but couldn't find any way to control WHAT it notifies me about.
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Did the same things just yesterday.  :thumbup:

 
RC94 said:
Transunion has a free identity protection that includes the ability to lock and unlock your credit report for free (I think there is a fee to thaw your credit report once you freeze it).  Has anyone enrolled?  Curious to hear your thoughts on this.  Here is a link:  https://www.transunion.com/product/trueidentity-free-identity-protection
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Did you sign up for any "Premium Products?"   I saw reviews arguing about whether it costs $20 or $10 a month, and then found this in their service agreement that indicates some parts of it aren't free:

Premium Membership

If you elect for a membership including “Premium Products”, you will be charged a monthly membership fee in order to receive the products and you understand that it is a membership that automatically renews itself every month indefinitely without action by the member on the anniversary day of your initial purchase. 
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Edit to add:

Premium Products

You may opt to purchase additional products (the “Premium Products”) as part of your subscription, which may include a Credit Score Simulator, Credit Calculators, Comparison Report, Debt Analysis, Internet Watch, Court Records, Neighborhood Watch, Payday Loans, Address Tracker, ID Restoration, and Lost Wallet. 
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GregR said:
Did you sign up for any "Premium Products?"   I saw reviews arguing about whether it costs $20 or $10 a month, and then found this in their service agreement that indicates some parts of it aren't free:
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I haven't signed up for anything yet, but I won't sign up for any premium products.  Just want to be able to freeze/unfreeze my credit report and if I can do it for free that would be great.  I haven't gone through the signup process, but if they ask for credit card info I won't continue with it.

 
This is why free market capitalism doesn't work.   We need regulations to protect the majority of working class America.   There has to be a middle ground.  

 
Using social security numbers for credit and identity seems like we are in the darkar ages and the thieves are trying to get to the moon. 

Gotta be a new way that makes it much harder to steal identities?

 
SHIZNITTTT said:
Using social security numbers for credit and identity seems like we are in the darkar ages and the thieves are trying to get to the moon. 

Gotta be a new way that makes it much harder to steal identities?
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Biometrics are the future, IMO. I know it's possible to fool a phone with a photo, but if ####ing telephones already have retina scanners, the day can't be too far off.

 
DallasDMac said:
No. They are doing it for free.
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It's always been free. Most people don't know that though. And you only really want to do it if you know you aren't going to do ANYTHING where they check your credit, like buying a car, a house, renting an apartment, getting utility or cable services, etc. 

 
GilbertGrape said:
It's always been free. Most people don't know that though. And you only really want to do it if you know you aren't going to do ANYTHING where they check your credit, like buying a car, a house, renting an apartment, getting utility or cable services, etc. 
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Cost is oddly determined by state law.  It's free in NJ.  Most states it's $5-$15 each to freeze a report.  

 
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GilbertGrape said:
It's always been free. Most people don't know that though. And you only really want to do it if you know you aren't going to do ANYTHING where they check your credit, like buying a car, a house, renting an apartment, getting utility or cable services, etc. 
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Not in Texas. It's normally $10. But they waived the fee given the situation. I think that last 30 days.

 
Saw on my credit report that my checking account bank as well as my mortgage bank do frequent credit inquiries.  It would be nice if now that I have my credit frozen that these banks will stop sending me junk mail offers.   

 
NutterButter said:
Saw on my credit report that my checking account bank as well as my mortgage bank do frequent credit inquiries.  It would be nice if now that I have my credit frozen that these banks will stop sending me junk mail offers.   
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I got a letter from Experian today that they were removing me from preapproved credit mailing lists for 5 years after I froze my account last week.  It should help with that.  I can mail in a signed form to remove myself from those lists permanently.

 
NutterButter said:
Saw on my credit report that my checking account bank as well as my mortgage bank do frequent credit inquiries.  It would be nice if now that I have my credit frozen that these banks will stop sending me junk mail offers.   
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Like I said earlier, you already have a relationship with them. So they aren't going to be affected in the least by the freeze. You won't see any slowdown from them.

 
DallasDMac said:
Like I said earlier, you already have a relationship with them. So they aren't going to be affected in the least by the freeze. You won't see any slowdown from them.
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I mean its no big deal to just throw the few pieces of mail I get for them in recycling, but it seems a little strange they'd run my credit once a month if they didn't need to.  

 
NutterButter said:
I mean its no big deal to just throw the few pieces of mail I get for them in recycling, but it seems a little strange they'd run my credit once a month if they didn't need to.  
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I actually don't know if they run a fresh report each month. May only be every six months, I dunno. The fee for an individual report seems small. But when you are dealing with millions of customers, it adds up quick.

 
Johnnymac said:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/09/21/why-didnt-equifax-protect-your-data-because-corporations-have-all-the-power/

So much this ^^^
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Very true - I'd love to have actual control over my data.  So far, what I've found is that I should (for my wife and I) be freezing my accounts at nine companies.  Nine - and that's just the tip of the iceberg on who has your information and sells it.

The list:

Equifax

Transunion

Experian

Innovis

Chexsystems

ClarityService

Sagestream

FactorTrust

Advanced Resolution Services

 
Sand said:
Very true - I'd love to have actual control over my data.  So far, what I've found is that I should (for my wife and I) be freezing my accounts at nine companies.  Nine - and that's just the tip of the iceberg on who has your information and sells it.

The list:

Equifax

Transunion

Experian

Innovis

Chexsystems

ClarityService

Sagestream

FactorTrust

Advanced Resolution Services
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At this point, I'm more concerned about how to prevent my info from being used in a manner that would cause be a lot of trouble; for instance, opening a credit card in my name.   I just assume that if someone really wanted my info, they could get it.   So other than the 4 credit bureaus, why do I need to freeze my account at the other five?

 
NutterButter said:
At this point, I'm more concerned about how to prevent my info from being used in a manner that would cause be a lot of trouble; for instance, opening a credit card in my name.   I just assume that if someone really wanted my info, they could get it.   So other than the 4 credit bureaus, why do I need to freeze my account at the other five?
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I worry waaaaaaaay more about an account takeover situation than someone opening a card in my name. With the card, I have to go through the effort to dispute the charges and all that, get the card closed. But no money comes out of my pocket. If someone takes over my bank account and cleans out my checking and savings, that can put me in a hurt locker for awhile until they can recover the funds.

 
DallasDMac said:
I worry waaaaaaaay more about an account takeover situation than someone opening a card in my name. With the card, I have to go through the effort to dispute the charges and all that, get the card closed. But no money comes out of my pocket. If someone takes over my bank account and cleans out my checking and savings, that can put me in a hurt locker for awhile until they can recover the funds.
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I personally don't keep more than a few grand in my bank account.  It would certainly suck to lose that until its straightened out, but its not a big deal.   As far as any of this, I'm not really concerned about long term consequences.  I'm just trying to minimize the hassle and to me having credit card accounts open in your name for an extended period of time or even a mortgage would be a big hassle once I'm somehow notified that they exist.   

ETA:  I guess when you talk of savings, any of my retirement accounts could possibly qualify.   The thing about those is that as long as I get the money back at some point, its all good.  I don't need any of that money for a long while.  With credit cards, you could be dealing with collection agencies up your butt.  

 
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NutterButter said:
I personally don't keep more than a few grand in my bank account.  It would certainly suck to lose that until its straightened out, but its not a big deal.   As far as any of this, I'm not really concerned about long term consequences.  I'm just trying to minimize the hassle and to me having credit card accounts open in your name for an extended period of time or even a mortgage would be a big hassle once I'm somehow notified that they exist.   

ETA:  I guess when you talk of savings, any of my retirement accounts could possibly qualify.   The thing about those is that as long as I get the money back at some point, its all good.  I don't need any of that money for a long while.  With credit cards, you could be dealing with collection agencies up your butt.  
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The freeze will take care of the new loan or card issue. Doesn't help with the account takeover unfortunately. I have watches and alerts on everything.  My phone constantly dinging is driving the wife crazy. But she'll have to cope.

 
DallasDMac said:
The freeze will take care of the new loan or card issue. Doesn't help with the account takeover unfortunately. I have watches and alerts on everything.  My phone constantly dinging is driving the wife crazy. But she'll have to cope.
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I guess that's about all you can do for existing accounts.   I might add that to my checking account.   It would only at most be a dozen notifications a month.  I never use the debit card.  I wonder if my retirement accounts have anything like that.  I'm not concerned about existing credit cards.  I only have a few and check them enough where I can dispute it if I see something is wrong.  

 
NutterButter said:
At this point, I'm more concerned about how to prevent my info from being used in a manner that would cause be a lot of trouble; for instance, opening a credit card in my name.   I just assume that if someone really wanted my info, they could get it.   So other than the 4 credit bureaus, why do I need to freeze my account at the other five?
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Definitely freeze Chexsystems, then.  That's what most banks use to check before opening accounts.

Don't remember the details on the others at the moment.

 
Finally got signed up with the premier Id free stuff they gave.  Took forever on their crappy website.  I was able to login and lock my credit though.  Not much else I can do

 
just catching up here. Is it worth putting my info into their site to see if I was impacted or not? I heard it says everyone was impacted, even if you put in fake information. Was this for the real site or the fake?

Why freeze credit completely rather than just setting up fraud alerts?

TIA for all input

 
Experian Taking Advantage of the Situation  - LA Times, 9/25/17

Experian is offering to do a "free" search of your email on the dark web.  However, they are just selling your email to other services (you can opt out thru a few clicks) and the 17,600 "terms of service" indicates the arbitration clause survives any cancellations.  

Luckily, Experian is here with a free scan of the dark Web on consumers’ behalf. All you have to do is enter your email address.

The search box makes a stab at transparency by stating that inputting your email means you’re giving Experian permission to pitch its own products as well as “other products that may be of interest.” It also says you’re agreeing to Experian’s terms of service.

But that hardly comes close to a full disclosure of what’s transpiring. I clicked on Experian’s terms of service and found a densely written, nearly 17,600-word document — a contract the length of a novella.

Not surprisingly, this is where you’ll find an arbitration clause preventing you from suing the company — an increasingly common aspect of consumer contracts nowadays. That’s the least of your worries, though.

It turns out running a free dark-Web email scan opens you up to “advertisements or offers for available credit cards, loan options, financial products or services, or credit-related products or services and other offers to customers.”

It also exposes you to “the ability to track and collect certain consumer information specific to you,” including your credit score, loan and credit card payments, and interest rates.

The terms reveal that Experian “receives compensation for the marketing of credit opportunities or other products or services available through third parties,” which is exactly what it sounds like. You’re giving permission for the company to sell you out.

And if you make it to the very bottom of the contract — no small feat, I assure you — you’ll find this little cow chip: Even if you cancel any Experian service, your acceptance of the arbitration clause “shall survive.”

For the rest of your natural life? That seems to be the presumption.

Claudia Kubowicz Malhotra, an associate professor of marketing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said two big problems with Experian’s pitch are that no one will read 17,600 words of fine print and that relatively few consumers have the slightest idea what the dark Web is.

“For those who may be hearing about the dark Web for the first time, it sounds ominous,” she observed. “And then it is super easy for the consumer to click and proceed with the free search.”

So is the dark-Web search worth it?

I did it and Experian listed my work email as “compromised” after finding a single mention on the dark Web. However, the company was unable to provide any details, such as what sort of site contained the reference or in what context.

On the other hand, Experian was able to say that maybe more extensive searches, including for my Social Security number, driver’s license number and credit card numbers, would turn up something more significant.

It would be happy to do this and more for just $9.99 a month.

Swire at Georgia Tech noted that Experian agreed to pay $950,000 in 2005 to settle charges brought by the Federal Trade Commission that it deceived consumers who sought free credit reports.

“This new product from Experian looks like an aggressive way for them to say something is ‘free’ when it really isn’t,” he said.
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Peyton Marino said:
just catching up here. Is it worth putting my info into their site to see if I was impacted or not? I heard it says everyone was impacted, even if you put in fake information. Was this for the real site or the fake?

Why freeze credit completely rather than just setting up fraud alerts?

TIA for all input
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Bump for this...

Also, will Equifax contact you if you've been affected?

 
Lifetime freeze with free lock/unlock is a huge step in the right direction. Timeline to enroll extended.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/28/554188794/equifax-promises-a-new-lifetime-service-as-new-leader-offers-an-apology

-- Still need the other credit bureaus on board with the same. 

-- Still need new identifier numbers such as the ideas in this article. 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/social-security-numbers-are-80-years-old-heres-how-america-could-replace-them-2017-09-15

"Put simply, the new identifier would be a unique number known only to the user that changes periodically and automatically. Replacing the Social Security number, this could be layered with additional forms of security like biometric identification or non-numerical identifiers like birth date, occupation, and other unique facts about an individual. This is the case in India, where an effort was launched in 2010 to create biometric identifiers for each of the 1.2 billion people in the country to crack down on welfare fraud."

 
Johnny Rock said:
Lifetime freeze with free lock/unlock is a huge step in the right direction. Timeline to enroll extended.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/28/554188794/equifax-promises-a-new-lifetime-service-as-new-leader-offers-an-apology

-- Still need the other credit bureaus on board with the same. 

-- Still need new identifier numbers such as the ideas in this article. 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/social-security-numbers-are-80-years-old-heres-how-america-could-replace-them-2017-09-15

"Put simply, the new identifier would be a unique number known only to the user that changes periodically and automatically. Replacing the Social Security number, this could be layered with additional forms of security like biometric identification or non-numerical identifiers like birth date, occupation, and other unique facts about an individual. This is the case in India, where an effort was launched in 2010 to create biometric identifiers for each of the 1.2 billion people in the country to crack down on welfare fraud."
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Like an RSA Token number. I like it. 

 
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