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Consumer Alert
What You Need to Know About the None of the services being offered by Equifax
through its TrustedID products in response
Equifax Breach to the data breach require your credit card
information. You will need to provide your
In the news: name, address, and last six digits of your
Criminals gained access to Equifaxs database from social security number.
mid-May through July 2017. The breach impacted the If you sign up for any of the free Equifax services, email
social security numbers, birth dates, and addresses of communications will come from TrustedID Customer
143 million Americans, including more than 4.3 million Servicenot Equifax.
Michigan residents.
Credit card information, dispute documents with What you can do now:
personal identifying information, and drivers license You can take these basic steps to help prevent identity
numbers were also stolen in some cases. theft, or quickly detect identity theft:
What you need to know: 1. Before entering any information online, make
sure that you are on a safe connection (look
When breaches, like this one, occur from hacking or for the https) and do not use public Wi-Fi or
unauthorized access, the stolen personal information is a public computer, since both can put you at
more likely to be used to commit identity theft. Thus, additional risk for identity theft.
if your information was impacted, you need to take
the threat seriously and take steps now to prevent 2. Go to Equifaxs Cybersecurity Incident &
becoming an identity theft victim. Important Consumer Information website and
follow the directions to see if your information
First, some red flags: has been impacted.
Equifax will send direct notices of the breach You can also read Equifaxs FAQ for Consumers;
by U.S. mail only to the 200,000+ consumers Progress Updates for Consumers; and Notice of
whose credit card numbers were impacted Data Breach.
and to the 180,000+ consumers with credit
dispute documents with personal identifying 3. Place a security freeze on your credit file at each
information that was compromised. of the three major credit reporting agencies.
Even if you dont receive that noticemore than 143 For extra security, you can apply a freeze to a fourth,
million consumers were impactedso theres still a lesser-known agency, Innovis. (See how to contact them
significant chance that other information like your below.)
name, social security number, addresses, or date of birth
may have been revealed. Its up to you to keep an eye If you are worried about the possibility of identity theft,
on your credit. you should place security freezes as quickly as possible
after learning of a security breach.
If you receive notice thru email or a phone call, it is
a phishing scam and someone is trying to get your
personal information. Ignore the caller and delete any
email messages.
Bill Schuette
Attorney General
EQUIFAX BREACH
Consumer Alert
For a limited time, Equifax is offering free freezes for 4. Place an initial fraud alert on your credit file.
Equifax credit reports; freezes with TransUnion and Once you receive notice of a security breach,
Experian will cost Michigan residents $10 for each federal law provides you with a free and easy
agency and $10 to temporarily or permanently lift the way to minimize the risk of fraud.
freeze. The fees are allowed by state law and were in
place before the Equifax breach. An initial fraud alert is a free alert, or flag, that
is placed on your credit file when you notify a
Freezing your credit reports is an effective way to credit reporting agency that your information
prevent identity theft. With a security freeze, you and a may have been compromised. This alert will
select few others are the only ones that can access your make it more difficult for anyone to open
information. Security freezes require a PIN and placing an account in your name. The Federal Trade
them on your reports will not affect your credit score. Commission provides a checklist for this.
For example, will you be charged after a short free Use two-factor authentication for all of your online
period? Or will you only get the free subscription if you accounts.
give up your right to additional legal redress? File your taxes early to avoid refund fraud.
For a limited time, Equifax is offering free credit Educate yourself about the different types of
monitoring for a year, and you will not be automatically identity theft, including: financial identity theft;
enrolled when the free offer ends nor must you waive governmental identity theft; criminal identity theft;
any rights to take legal action against Equifax. medical identity theft; and child identity theft.