On September 7th, 2017, Equifax, a credit reporting agency encountered a data breach that affected over 140+ million American consumers. The hackers gained access to names, social security numbers, birth dates, addresses, credit card information and driver licenses. This has been ruled as one of the largest electronic data breaches in U.S. history. Continue reading to find out how to protect yourself from The Equifax Data Breach.
Make Sure That You Are Safe . . .
- Review your credit report. Look for any strange activity, such as a change in address or telephone number, or misuse of your social security number.
- Change all user access credentials. If you use the same passwords for financial institutions or insurance claims information, it is best to change them. Enable text and email alerts when possible. Turn on two-factor authentication when possible.
- Check to see if you have been affected on the Equifax Potential Impact website page.
If you have been affected . . .
- Consider freezing your credit. Do not worry, you will still have your credit score. This only disables access to your credit information as well as block any hackers.
- Take Equifax’s one-year of free credit monitoring to know if someone is using your information in fraudulent ways.
