Equifax Breach. How safe are your ID, Credit, Finances?

brianlux

I hope this isn't as big a clusterfuck as it appears to be but I have a sneaking suspicion it is.  Talking to my sister, some other friends, and people who know way more about all this financial bullshit than I do, I'm taking the advice and freezing my credit.  As one friend said to me bluntly, "The system is broken."   I would suggest this is worth taking a serious look at.  Maybe talk to your banker or financial advisor.  Suffice it to say, I really hate this kind business but my wife says, "NO WAY" to my idea of sticking the money in a mattress.

And maybe you or I are lucky enough not to have too much too lose or won't lose anything at all but not doing anything about it puts our ID, SS number and finances at risk so, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I would suggest taking some action on this to protect yourself.

http://www.businessinsider.com/equifax-credit-freeze-2017-9

The dominoes continue to fall after the Equifax data breach.

On Tuesday, Equifax Chairman of the Board and CEO Richard Smith was the latest — and most high-profile — executive to step down, following the exit last week of the company's chief security officer and CIO. The US Justice Department is looking into sales of Equifax stock by executives before news of the breach was made public.

Elizabeth Warren and 11 other Democratic senators launched an investigation into the massive data breach, and announced a plan to introduce a bill to give consumers the ability to freeze their credit for free.

But fewer than 1% of consumers have put a credit freeze in place, according to a new report from credit monitoring site CreditSesame. Of the nearly four million TransUnion credit reports Credit Sesame analyzed, 0.32% had a credit freeze in place, and 7% had a fraud alert.

Freezing your credit, which typically costs $5-10 each time you do it, requires contacting all three credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. New credit activity — fraudulent as well as legitimate — will be prevented until you lift the freeze. A fraud alert is free, and requires lenders to verify your identity before issuing new credit.

More here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/your-money/equifax-breach.html

stuckinline

Brian, very frightening stuff! Every financial person I consulted suggested freezing all three credit bureaus. 

brianlux

stuckinline said:

Brian, very frightening stuff! Every financial person I consulted suggested freezing all three credit bureaus. 

I just spend half the morning freezing my wife's and my credit (you have to do it for all three companies- Equifax, Experian and TrnasUnion) and I won't kid you but getting all this done was a PAIN IN THE ASS!  One company charged 10 bucks, the others were free.  Still, I would recommend doing it to protect your ID and assets.  I dropped the f-bomb a bunnnnch of times today. 

Equifax, SUCK BLUE!

WhatYouTaughtMe

Unfortunately, none of that information has been secure for awhile. I remember reading a couple years ago that more than half of American bank accounts were believed to have been accessed in one year. With all of these databases communicating with each other, it really is an illusion that our personal information is secure. The White House and State Department can't even keep their networks completely risk free.

brianlux

WhatYouTaughtMe said:

Unfortunately, none of that information has been secure for awhile. I remember reading a couple years ago that more than half of American bank accounts were believed to have been accessed in one year. With all of these databases communicating with each other, it really is an illusion that our personal information is secure. The White House and State Department can't even keep their networks completely risk free.

That's very true.  Now more than ever, freezing your credit is a smart thing to do.  A couple other friends who are very business savvy have done the same.  I abhor this aspect of the world of business but, man oh man, I'm too old to start over!

josevolution

yet most of the folks that voted for the current bafoon never believed Russia hacked our elections , i know that has nothing to do with this but still nothing is secure in our country i'm surprised our electrical grids haven't been breached yet by the Kremlin ...i'll talk to my smarter haf tonight 

oftenreading

josevolution said:

yet most of the folks that voted for the current bafoon never believed Russia hacked our elections , i know that has nothing to do with this but still nothing is secure in our country i'm surprised our electrical grids haven't been breached yet by the Kremlin ...i'll talk to my smarter haf tonight 

Initially read this as "smarter hat" and spent some time pondering what you meant before the penny dropped.

Guess I'm not the smarter half......

brianlux

Sometimes when the general subject of hacking comes up I think...

josevolution

oftenreading said:

josevolution said:

yet most of the folks that voted for the current bafoon never believed Russia hacked our elections , i know that has nothing to do with this but still nothing is secure in our country i'm surprised our electrical grids haven't been breached yet by the Kremlin ...i'll talk to my smarter haf tonight 

Initially read this as "smarter hat" and spent some time pondering what you meant before the penny dropped.

Guess I'm not the smarter half......

Yep she's the boss ..

FoxyRedLa

Life lock

I hate those commercials. 

I've been apart of a hack before. I was more worried about losing what little I have in the bank for emergencies. I didn't think about someone using my info to go buy shit. Great. A new something to obsess about in my mind.

So freezing your credit - I can still use my current credit card? You're puttin down that someone can't buy a home or yacht or a car....?

oftenreading

FoxyRedLa said:

Life lock

I hate those commercials. 

I've been apart of a hack before. I was more worried about losing what little I have in the bank for emergencies. I didn't think about someone using my info to go buy shit. Great. A new something to obsess about in my mind.

So freezing your credit - I can still use my current credit card? You're puttin down that someone can't buy a home or yacht or a car....?

My understanding is that a credit freeze still allows you to use your existing credit but tries to prevent someone from fraudulently opening new credit in your name (credit card, bank loan, etc). 

brianlux

oftenreading said:

FoxyRedLa said:

Life lock

I hate those commercials. 

I've been apart of a hack before. I was more worried about losing what little I have in the bank for emergencies. I didn't think about someone using my info to go buy shit. Great. A new something to obsess about in my mind.

So freezing your credit - I can still use my current credit card? You're puttin down that someone can't buy a home or yacht or a car....?

My understanding is that a credit freeze still allows you to use your existing credit but tries to prevent someone from fraudulently opening new credit in your name (credit card, bank loan, etc). 

Yeah, that's what I understand.  It doesn't affect credit and debit cards- just protects you from someone stealing your identity/accessing your accounts.  Pain in the butt business. 

And what kind of person would do that to someone else?  "Evil" is the only word I can think of to describe someone like that.

FoxyRedLa

Gotcha! Thank you!

How long does the freeze last?

brianlux

FoxyRedLa said:

Gotcha! Thank you!

How long does the freeze last?

It stays until you remove it-- which you would likely only need to do for a major purchase like a car loan.

oftenreading

Actually, I had read that you need to renew it, though I can't recall the time period. The assumption of the article writer was that Equifax would offer it free for now, but when it came time to renew they would stick you for it. 

FoxyRedLa

Thank you both! 

brianlux

Not a lot of money involved here in California.  I froze credit for two people, three companies (total of 6 freezes),  Total cost for all six: ten dollars.  But it might be more in other states.  I went directly on-line  through Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.  Have all your id, checking account numbers, etc. on hand.  And remember- breathe!  If I can do it, anybody can do it!

PJ_Soul

I don't know if it's true for all the millions of Americans just because there are so many of them, but I heard that Equifax would be sending a letter to the appx 100,000 Canadians whose info was compromised.

brianlux

PJ_Soul said:

I don't know if it's true for all the millions of Americans just because there are so many of them, but I heard that Equifax would be sending a letter to the appx 100,000 Canadians whose info was compromised.

I kind of doubt we will hear from them.  They kept this thing buried here as much as possible. As if it already wasn't difficult enough to trust of financial institutions!  I'm seriously looking at buying more silver than the little I have already.

PJ_Soul

brianlux said:

PJ_Soul said:

I don't know if it's true for all the millions of Americans just because there are so many of them, but I heard that Equifax would be sending a letter to the appx 100,000 Canadians whose info was compromised.

I kind of doubt we will hear from them.  They kept this thing buried here as much as possible. As if it already wasn't difficult enough to trust of financial institutions!  I'm seriously looking at buying more silver than the little I have already.

Who knows. I assumed Americans wouldn't hear from them just because of the sheer number of Americans affected... I mean, 100M+... isn't that just about everyone with a credit rating?? Seems like if you're American, you should just assume that your info was breached. I know that, again for Canadians affected, they will automatically be red flagging those people's credit, so that there is extra security if anyone tries to apply for new credit products with those people's info. Again, I doubt this is possible for Americans because there are too many of them, but I don't know.

brianlux

PJ_Soul said:

brianlux said:

PJ_Soul said:

I don't know if it's true for all the millions of Americans just because there are so many of them, but I heard that Equifax would be sending a letter to the appx 100,000 Canadians whose info was compromised.

I kind of doubt we will hear from them.  They kept this thing buried here as much as possible. As if it already wasn't difficult enough to trust of financial institutions!  I'm seriously looking at buying more silver than the little I have already.

Who knows. I assumed Americans wouldn't hear from them just because of the sheer number of Americans affected... I mean, 100M+... isn't that just about everyone with a credit rating?? Seems like if you're American, you should just assume that your info was breached. I know that, again for Canadians affected, they will automatically be red flagging those people's credit, so that there is extra security if anyone tries to apply for new credit products with those people's info. Again, I doubt this is possible for Americans because there are too many of them, but I don't know.

You never know.  As much junk mail gets shoved on us down here what another several million pieces to bolster the USPS?!

PJ_Soul

brianlux said:

PJ_Soul said:

brianlux said:

PJ_Soul said:

I don't know if it's true for all the millions of Americans just because there are so many of them, but I heard that Equifax would be sending a letter to the appx 100,000 Canadians whose info was compromised.

I kind of doubt we will hear from them.  They kept this thing buried here as much as possible. As if it already wasn't difficult enough to trust of financial institutions!  I'm seriously looking at buying more silver than the little I have already.

Who knows. I assumed Americans wouldn't hear from them just because of the sheer number of Americans affected... I mean, 100M+... isn't that just about everyone with a credit rating?? Seems like if you're American, you should just assume that your info was breached. I know that, again for Canadians affected, they will automatically be red flagging those people's credit, so that there is extra security if anyone tries to apply for new credit products with those people's info. Again, I doubt this is possible for Americans because there are too many of them, but I don't know.

You never know.  As much junk mail gets shoved on us down here what another several million pieces to bolster the USPS?!

Well, it wouldn't be junk mail. It would have to be personalized for everyone I should think - I.e., they'd have to address them individually to only those actually affected and possibly personalize each letter too. It's not an easy feat to say the least once you have to unexpectedly have to send specific info to 100 million specific people, as opposed to junk mail, which isn't even usually addressed at all, beyond maybe "Resident" at all listed addresses. I mean, the IRS does it... but they are set up to do that; it's already written into their budget too. Just the cost of Equifax doing it alone would be crazy... what? All things considered, it would probably cost them at least half a billion dollars.

brianlux

PJ_Soul said:

brianlux said:

PJ_Soul said:

brianlux said:

PJ_Soul said:

I don't know if it's true for all the millions of Americans just because there are so many of them, but I heard that Equifax would be sending a letter to the appx 100,000 Canadians whose info was compromised.

I kind of doubt we will hear from them.  They kept this thing buried here as much as possible. As if it already wasn't difficult enough to trust of financial institutions!  I'm seriously looking at buying more silver than the little I have already.

Who knows. I assumed Americans wouldn't hear from them just because of the sheer number of Americans affected... I mean, 100M+... isn't that just about everyone with a credit rating?? Seems like if you're American, you should just assume that your info was breached. I know that, again for Canadians affected, they will automatically be red flagging those people's credit, so that there is extra security if anyone tries to apply for new credit products with those people's info. Again, I doubt this is possible for Americans because there are too many of them, but I don't know.

You never know.  As much junk mail gets shoved on us down here what another several million pieces to bolster the USPS?!

Well, it wouldn't be junk mail. It would have to be personalized for everyone I should think - I.e., they'd have to address them individually to only those actually affected and possibly personalize each letter too. It's not an easy feat to say the least once you have to unexpectedly have to send specific info to 100 million specific people, as opposed to junk mail, which isn't even usually addressed at all, beyond maybe "Resident" at all listed addresses. I mean, the IRS does it... but they are set up to do that; it's already written into their budget too. Just the cost of Equifax doing it alone would be crazy... what? All things considered, it would probably cost them at least half a billion dollars.

I was being a bit facetious about the junk mail thing but now that I think of it, here in America, most of those letters would just get tossed anyway.  I think the right thing for them to have done was, rather than bury the issue the way they did, be honest and forthright and get the press to push the news more.  They have the power to do that.  But financial institutions in America do not exist to benefit the general public.  They exist merely to extract as much from the people as possible.  Maybe the same is true in Canada?

PJ_Soul

brianlux said:

PJ_Soul said:

brianlux said:

PJ_Soul said:

brianlux said:

PJ_Soul said:

I don't know if it's true for all the millions of Americans just because there are so many of them, but I heard that Equifax would be sending a letter to the appx 100,000 Canadians whose info was compromised.

I kind of doubt we will hear from them.  They kept this thing buried here as much as possible. As if it already wasn't difficult enough to trust of financial institutions!  I'm seriously looking at buying more silver than the little I have already.

Who knows. I assumed Americans wouldn't hear from them just because of the sheer number of Americans affected... I mean, 100M+... isn't that just about everyone with a credit rating?? Seems like if you're American, you should just assume that your info was breached. I know that, again for Canadians affected, they will automatically be red flagging those people's credit, so that there is extra security if anyone tries to apply for new credit products with those people's info. Again, I doubt this is possible for Americans because there are too many of them, but I don't know.

You never know.  As much junk mail gets shoved on us down here what another several million pieces to bolster the USPS?!

Well, it wouldn't be junk mail. It would have to be personalized for everyone I should think - I.e., they'd have to address them individually to only those actually affected and possibly personalize each letter too. It's not an easy feat to say the least once you have to unexpectedly have to send specific info to 100 million specific people, as opposed to junk mail, which isn't even usually addressed at all, beyond maybe "Resident" at all listed addresses. I mean, the IRS does it... but they are set up to do that; it's already written into their budget too. Just the cost of Equifax doing it alone would be crazy... what? All things considered, it would probably cost them at least half a billion dollars.

I was being a bit facetious about the junk mail thing but now that I think of it, here in America, most of those letters would just get tossed anyway.  I think the right thing for them to have done was, rather than bury the issue the way they did, be honest and forthright and get the press to push the news more.  They have the power to do that.  But financial institutions in America do not exist to benefit the general public.  They exist merely to extract as much from the people as possible.  Maybe the same is true in Canada?

Well generally I agree about the goals of the financial sector, but in Canada there has been an extreme amount of transparency since the news broke. I feel like Equifax is doing everything it can for those Canadian affected, and I know that other credit reporting entities (like the companies that make your score easy to access, for example) have been doing their part in keeping everyone informed about the situation. That said, I'm not quite clear on what the delay was in making this all public... I'm open to the idea that they simply waited until they had all the information themselves and prepared to deal with the fallout, so that citizens weren't informed about it in a slipshod kind of way. I'm not saying that's cool, but I'm not ready to just leap to any sinister conclusions either. As far as those execs who sold stock between the breach and the announcement... well, they claim that those people didn't know about the breach either. Who knows? But again, I'm not ready to jump to conclusion without evidence about it one way or the other. Frankly, I think I'm not livid about this because the main anger should be directed at the hackers, not Equifax. Nobody ever seems to be pissed off about the information thieves. I have barely even seen anyone concerned about whether or not these hackers can be caught TBH.

brianlux

PJ_Soul said:

brianlux said:

PJ_Soul said:

brianlux said:

PJ_Soul said:

brianlux said:

PJ_Soul said:

I don't know if it's true for all the millions of Americans just because there are so many of them, but I heard that Equifax would be sending a letter to the appx 100,000 Canadians whose info was compromised.

I kind of doubt we will hear from them.  They kept this thing buried here as much as possible. As if it already wasn't difficult enough to trust of financial institutions!  I'm seriously looking at buying more silver than the little I have already.

Who knows. I assumed Americans wouldn't hear from them just because of the sheer number of Americans affected... I mean, 100M+... isn't that just about everyone with a credit rating?? Seems like if you're American, you should just assume that your info was breached. I know that, again for Canadians affected, they will automatically be red flagging those people's credit, so that there is extra security if anyone tries to apply for new credit products with those people's info. Again, I doubt this is possible for Americans because there are too many of them, but I don't know.

You never know.  As much junk mail gets shoved on us down here what another several million pieces to bolster the USPS?!

Well, it wouldn't be junk mail. It would have to be personalized for everyone I should think - I.e., they'd have to address them individually to only those actually affected and possibly personalize each letter too. It's not an easy feat to say the least once you have to unexpectedly have to send specific info to 100 million specific people, as opposed to junk mail, which isn't even usually addressed at all, beyond maybe "Resident" at all listed addresses. I mean, the IRS does it... but they are set up to do that; it's already written into their budget too. Just the cost of Equifax doing it alone would be crazy... what? All things considered, it would probably cost them at least half a billion dollars.

I was being a bit facetious about the junk mail thing but now that I think of it, here in America, most of those letters would just get tossed anyway.  I think the right thing for them to have done was, rather than bury the issue the way they did, be honest and forthright and get the press to push the news more.  They have the power to do that.  But financial institutions in America do not exist to benefit the general public.  They exist merely to extract as much from the people as possible.  Maybe the same is true in Canada?

Well generally I agree about the goals of the financial sector, but in Canada there has been an extreme amount of transparency since the news broke. I feel like Equifax is doing everything it can for those Canadian affected, and I know that other credit reporting entities (like the companies that make your score easy to access, for example) have been doing their part in keeping everyone informed about the situation. That said, I'm not quite clear on what the delay was in making this all public... I'm open to the idea that they simply waited until they had all the information themselves and prepared to deal with the fallout, so that citizens weren't informed about it in a slipshod kind of way. I'm not saying that's cool, but I'm not ready to just leap to any sinister conclusions either. As far as those execs who sold stock between the breach and the announcement... well, they claim that those people didn't know about the breach either. Who knows? But again, I'm not ready to jump to conclusion without evidence about it one way or the other. Frankly, I think I'm not livid about this because the main anger should be directed at the hackers, not Equifax. Nobody ever seems to be pissed off about the information thieves. I have barely even seen anyone concerned about whether or not these hackers can be caught TBH.

Yeah, those hackers are tricky devils.  And a pain in the ass!

tweedyfanjen

Who needs Equifax when your own state government gets hacked? Our Department of Revenue has been hacked twice now.

brianlux

tweedyfanjen said:

Who needs Equifax when your own state government gets hacked? Our Department of Revenue has been hacked twice now.

What I wonder is why, besides the Dept. of Revenue, are there at least FOUR companies that track our credit so closely and put it in danger of being hacked? 

I believe becoming a cashless society is just around the corner. One of our biggest banks in town has started to charge us for making cash deposits.  Think about that:  BANKS CHARGING CUSTOMERS WHO MAKE CASH DEPOSITS.  Think about the ramifications of that.  How much less secure will our personal finances be when we become a cashless society and everything we have (other than silver and gold) will be at risk of being easily snatched away? 

stuckinline

Equifax may have been hacked again:

U.S.

Equifax may have been hacked again

When Equifax's interim CEO penned a letter of apology on The Wall Street Journal, he admitted that it will take a lot of effort to regain people's trust. Unfortunately, the company still seems to be lacking when it comes to security, because according to Ars Technica, it's been hacked yet again. Independent security analyst Randy Abrams told Ars that he was redirected to hxxp:centerbluray.info and was met with a Flash download when he went to equifax.com to contest a false info on his credit report.

brianlux

I heard the Equifax hacking affected some in Great Britain as well.  I wonder how far reaching this thing has gotten?  The wheels are coming off the world of finance.  I follow James Howard Kunstler's blog and he has predicted this kind of thing for some time now.  Time to get some better minds behind this thing or watch it fall like a house of cards.

stuckinline

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/us-charges-4-chinese-military-members-in-equifax-breach_n_5e417b83c5b6b708870524cc

brianlux

stuckinline said:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/us-charges-4-chinese-military-members-in-equifax-breach_n_5e417b83c5b6b708870524cc

I wonder if and how they can be brought to trial?