Equifax Hack
About 143 million American consumers were affected by the recent Equifax data breach. The breach was announced last Friday. It was reported that hackers accessed consumers personal information between May and July 2017. Data accessed included social security numbers. credit card numbers, and in some cases driver license numbers. That means your information may now be in the hands of criminals. If you have a credit report you need to take action to protect your information from being misused. Here are four things you can do to stay protected:
- Check the Equifax site to see if your information is potentially exposed. Click here: Equifax
- Sign up for Equifax free credit monitoring.
- Check your credit reports. Check other major credit bureaus by visiting annualcreditreport.com
- Consider placing a “Credit Freeze” on your files. By doing this, you are increasing the protection of your data. It makes it harder for a criminal to open a new account on your name.
Considering the size of the breach, it is probably better to just assume that you were apart of it and take action now! Stay vigilant and closely monitor all your credit reports. Keep in mind, this breach has affected 143 million consumers, the criminals have a lot of data to choose from. While you might not see anything wrong with your credit report today, your information is still in the hands of criminals and can be used anytime they like.
