The past few years have been filled with news about data breaches. This constant bombardment makes it easy to become complacent about yet another. However, on July 29, 2017, Equifax discovered their US website had been compromised. Information for 143 million people may have been stolen. That’s 44% of the population. With almost one of every two people affected, chances are good the Equifax data breach affects someone in every household.
How do I check to see if I was affected?
First off, you won’t be receiving a notice from Equifax about the breach. They’ve decided that since they did a press release and set up a website where consumers can check to see if they were affected everything is peachy.
In some ways, the Equifax decision makes sense. After all, there are probably going to be a huge number of emails now from “Equifax” asking the recipient to check their status. Because the breach included names, social security numbers, and more, these emails will be very believable and offer a prime vehicle for distributing malware and viruses. With that said, it seems almost unconscionable for a company entrusted with consumer credit information to not mail affected consumers.
The Equifax WordPress website at www.equifaxsecurity2017.com allows consumers to check whether their information has been compromised.
Should I check to see if I was affected by the Equifax data breach?
Yes. The reason is the sheer size of the Equifax data breach. I checked to see if my information was safe and received the following response.
However, when I checked my wife’s information, the news was not good.
In our household one of us is safe, the other is not. I encourage you to check each member of your household. You begin the enrollment process in credit monitoring by clicking the Enroll button. Do this for each person since the enrollment dates may not be the same for each person.
Should I enroll in TrustedID Premier?
I’d recommend enrolling in the credit monitoring service being offered. One thing you’ll need when enrolling is the enrollment date that Equifax provides. As I said above, these dates may be different for each person. Just as we were affected differently by the breach, we also have different enrollment dates for the service.
