While the Equifax story is eye-opening, the squeals of people trying to place freezes is sad. The rush to the exits is worse than remaining in your seats.
If they didn't have freezes before, is there really any need to get a freeze placed anytime soon? That is, if their information wasn't used since the information leaked, what are the chances that their information will be used in the next 3 months anyways?
Keep Calm and Freeze Later.
1
It's been reported that the CFO sold $1.8 million shortly after finding out about the hack. Doesn't that constitute insider trading?
1
I hate these greedy tech companies screwing us over and over.
I have tried to get thru to Equifax every day for weeks now, and still nothing.
Maybe if we took away the profit motive, and took this slimy data pig down with massive fines paying all 143 million folks. They all three should be forced to BUY any data they want from us. No exceptions. Pay us now.
1
I just got off the phone after trying to reach Experian. After selecting a choice to find the department to freeze my account, I hear this worker repeat several times that he'd help me. Then he proceeds to try to interest me in a WALMART gift card. What??? Finally asked for a number to freeze my account and he gave me a number "no longer in service"! Geez, I'm glad I'm retired. I can't imagine how those busy millenniasl will have time to correct theses credit company stealers' mistakes! Who gave them the right to have all this info in the first place?
I was one of the people who got an insecure PIN after freezing my credit with Equifax. Just called the "Contact Us" phone and the agent said all she could do was refer me to help.equifax.com, which was where I started. How do we get better PINs?
Ron, thank you so much for the work you've done! I've been following, and acting on, your findings, and (just today) have finally found success with Equifax's and TransUnion's online processes.
Like Ron in Asheville, I've continued to have headaches with Experian. Hopefully they'll come around; I suspect they're benefitting from an opaque approach that fosters uncertainty, with the effect of discouraging consumers from ordering freezes (e.g., if I have to apply by mail, but I've already entered my credit card into the website, will I be billed twice? or, If it takes this long to freeze my credit, how many months in advance should I plan if I need to, say, buy a car?). They certainly aren't enthusiastic about offering up information.
Thanks again, you've done us all a great service (which is more than we can say for these agencies).
Kristen
1
I was traveling outside the US when the breach occurred. I cannot access Equinox, check if I am affected or do anything else on the site. I get an error message saying that access is blocked in the country I am in (greece). Should be a better way.
Since I determined that my information was compormised in the Equifax data breach, I immediately moved to put a freeze on my credit report wiht all three credit agencies. Equifax was relatively easy and they signed me up for a year of their TrustedID Premier for free. Trans Union took quite a while to figure out exactly what web page you needed to freeze your credit, but I managed to find it and put the freeze on .
However, Experian has made it nearly imposible to find the correct webpage to apply for the freeze and when I finally did, it wouldn't put the freeze on without an investigation report. For someone over 62 living in North Carolina, by law, the credit agencies must allow you to freeze your credit at will for free.
It is time to crush this industry by passing a law making it illegal to allow financial institutions institutions to require you to allow them to report your credit to the agencies without your permission inorder to do business wiht them. If the data source dries up, the agencies will have nothing to sell.
2
Mr. Lieber, thank you for your perseverance on behalf of strangers.
Perhaps we need some Dodd-Frank-like legislation regarding the combination of creating and holding confidential information databases and that corporation's security measures.
If an institution can charge me $25 or more dollars for a late payment or bounced check, I'd like to see those corporations charged a fee PER PERSON'S data for each breach.
Evidently that old saying "what gets counted gets done!" is still true.
3
It may be just a "coincidence", but after I placed a freeze on my credit file at all three three rating agencies (Equifax, Experian and TranUnion), Credit Karma sent an email saying that my credit score had declined.
Equifax' irresponsible behavior hurt us all, but now we may be getting smacked down again by following the advice of smart advisors and the FTC.
WTF?
Ron-
Thanks for the important work you are doing. Maybe a new job at the federal level in Securities Fraud?
Not just Equifax (where I was able to put a freeze)...consider Transunion. They recognized my information on their website in order for me to sign up for free credit monitoring. They recognized my information through AnnualCreditReport.com in order to give me a credit report. But their website and phone and live representative didn't recognize me in order to put in a freeze. I've been told to write to them and send copies of my state photo ID and Social Security card. I don't understand this at all.
Could we place a Notice of Correction on our file requiring a thumbprint before credit is issued? This would require thiefs to identify themselves.
My fingerprints were stolen in the US OPM hack a few years ago. I am not putting any bodily identifying information "out there" again - including no iphone or other smartphone fingerprint or facial recognition.
1
As a consumer advocate, Mr Lieber, please advocate for closing Equifax down. They are making it virtually impossible to get a credit freeze. The other 2 companies allow one to impose a credit freeze on the web in a few moments. If Equifax cannot provide that, then the government should step in. The only thing Equifax offers online is their fraud alert, free for now, but I want to stop it BEFORE it becomes fraud. The Web phone # only leads to someone who tells you to do it online, or gives you another number which only leads to busy signals or "the number you dialed cannot be reached." We need protection NOW not after days, or weeks, of getting busy signals.
5
Once again, everyone is screaming at a corporation and their misdeeds, but really only because they got caught, and not because their day-to-day operations are so disgusting to people.
I doubt many people have sat in bed in the middle of the night and thought about the extent to which their personal lives are abused no only by business entities but by other people, since as we now know these agencies mine data from social media and add it to their records.
Think about how little control over your life you really have the more you interact with people.
In a sense, Equifax has played the odds and lost: they got caught. My guess is that they withheld the information until it was clear that someone was about to "out" them. But really that's not an unrealistic response. Of course it suggests that there are other breaches out there that just haven't been reported yet, or like the voting in Wisconsin and Ohio, are just coming to light.
Do whatever you want, just don't get caught...it's the American way.
2
Hopefully Equifax will soon be a market driven (out of town that is) former company. I sure wouldn't want to be long on their stock.
2
I do not understand--perhaps you can explain it, Mr.Leiber--how and why these companies have access to our credit reports, which means they have access to our financial information. If I want to see my neighbor's credit scores, or their credit card bills, I can't do it. I did not give permission for any company to have access to this information about me--why do they have it in the first place? If I am interested in releasing this information, say to get a car loan or a mortgage, there should be a method in which I can release that information to particular persons or companies. But why does a private company have access to that information in the first place?
2
Hello Mr. Lieber,
Thank you for your very helpful and informative opinion articles on the Equifax issues.
I'm following up on one nuanced point that you reported on earlier: what to do if you have a preexisting credit freeze established several years ago. Do we assume that the PINs were compromised, and automatically set up a new freeze? What if the PINs were not compromised, would setting up a new freeze create problems with the old freeze? I look forward to your thoughts.
1
I have these questions, too. I have seen nothing on this topic from Equifax, phone representatives were unhelpful, and no media coverage has addressed this point.
I believe that there is no safety in any measure Equifax could take in to mitigate the damage done to the identity of those accounts that have been hacked. Therefore, I believe Congress should pass a quick law that allows the department of social security to delete all SS No.s that have been hacked and compel the department to reissue new SS No. to those A/C.s Any expense in doing so should be born by Equifax (and or the other bureaus)!
3
Thanks for all your work on this Ron.
I have had my accounts frozen at the credit agencies since my identity (including fingerprints and a 10 year FBI background investigation) was stolen a few years ago in the US OPM hack.
Did my freezes protect me in this recent hack? What steps do I need to take to protect myself now, and how do I do this without agreeing to an arbitration clause?
Here is the Equifax Board of Directors. These are the people ultimately responsible. I would urge people to contact them and express their views on this atrocious breach of trust, negligence, and corporate malfeasance.
Richard F. Smith
CHAIRMAN AND CEO, EQUIFAX INC.
Robert D. Daleo
RETIRED VICE CHAIRMAN, THOMSON REUTERS
Walter W. Driver, Jr.
CHAIRMAN, SOUTHEAST, GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO.
Mark L. Feidler
FOUNDING PARTNER, MSOUTH EQUITY PARTNERS
G. Thomas Hough
RETIRED AMERICAS VICE CHAIR OF ERNST & YOUNG LLP
L. Phillip Humann
RETIRED EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, SUNTRUST BANKS, INC.
Robert D. Marcus
NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, OCELOT PARTNERS LIMITED
Siri S. Marshall
RETIRED SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL COUNSEL AND SECRETARY, GENERAL MILLS, INC.
John A. McKinley
CEO, SAFERAGING, INC. AND CO-FOUNDER, LAUNCHBOX DIGITAL
Elane B. Stock
RETIRED GROUP PRESIDENT OF KIMBERLY-CLARK INTERNATIONAL
Mark B. Templeton
RETIRED PRESIDENT AND CEO, CITRIX SYSTEMS, INC.
13
Thank you Ron Lieber.
8
Two weeks in and I still haven't received PIN confirm letter, nothing on my Equifax profile shows freeze in place. Shocking that Equifax has not increased staffing and web servers to account for their own incompetence they MUST be heavily regulated
7
Charging customers for freezing their account is a form of blackmail. A RICO prosecution is in order.
6
I sometimes think corporations should receive the death penalty when their crimes are especially egregious. End their corporate lives, and let their competitors feast on their carcasses. What a sobering lesson that would be to others!
8
All the credit bureaus are like the mob! If you don't give them your information, they will take it anyway and decide FOR YOU if you are reliable enough to buy a house, a car, a sweater at Penney's. They are like television cable companies. No one has any control over either. Every cable bill I have received in the last year is different from the one I received the month before. Direct TV automatically and without my request or consent, enrolled me in the NFL Football channels for a mere price of $47 per month for six months; but they assured me I would receive by the first NFL game. I had to call and talk to an idiot to tell them I didn't want it and for them to cancel and adjust my bill. Direct TV and Credit Bureaus - like companies from hell.
9
Thank you for pursuing this story! Please do not let it drop, in the fray of the all other human generated chaos going on. This really matters. Internet insecurity is eating us alive and will only get worse before it gets better. This should be an issue of national concern and security. We need an effort like the moon shot or fighting heart disease.
btw, the simple answer to your question of why they won't pay for permanent credit freezes is easy - it costs money and they don't have to.
We are fodder.
7
Their response and attitude have been atrocious. I'd gotten an email on what to do from my nieces law firm. It was the first clear, concise set of instructions I'd read, leading me to opt for the free fraud alert over the freeze. All you needed was to request it from any other firm but Equifaxaai used Experian and they said, the would sent my info to all the credit rating agencies.
A few weeks later and I finally heard from Equifax--that my data had been sent to them so they were informing me they'd do this automatically for all major raters..
Thanks a bunch Equifax. For so appreciating my cause and concern.
2
Unfortunately, a fraud alert is not a freeze. Fraud alerts only tell you once the fraud is attempted or committed. A freeze should stop the process of credit theft before it starts. You may want both options.
2
I acted on both options, setting up credit freezes and a fraud alert, not just out of extra caution, but to punish Equifax. Frankly. Also thinking of going to my local police station to get a report so I can require a permanent fraud alert.
Mr Lieber - Read and Comment....https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/21/opinion/get-rid-of-equifax.html?rref=...®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=sectionfront
How do we protect our kids who are under 18? My kids are part of the data breach, and I tried to freeze their credit. Both Equifax and TransUnion wouldn't let me do it on their website because they are under 18. Calls to both businesses have been a waste of time. Busy at Equifax. TransUnion said I could do it, but website wouldn't let me. Subsequent calls to them left me being transferred from dept. to dept. with no answers. Can you please add this to your list of questions? Thanks.
12
Commenters here assume that Equifax reports to them. Totally wrong. Equifax serves banks, creditors and insurance companies. "Securing your information" doesn't apply: it's not yours, even if it's about you. If anything the banks, creditors and insurance companies have committed offenses by supplying Equifax with one thing they are not supposed to be using: your SSN!
8
To get a credit freeze, everyone of the credit bureaus require the SSN.
After several attempts to use the Equifax web app to request a freeze, I gave up.
After entering the required information, clicking on "submit", just got me "server not available".
2
We see businesses announce they won't do business with certain entities every day because of social issues, etc. Why has no one chosen not to do business with Equifax? Or to spin it the other way, how 'bout we as consumers refuse to deal with anyone who uses Equifax. I realize that isn't possible in some cases and would be difficult in others but if enough of us decided we didn't have to have that new TV today it might make an impression.
4
Equifax is clearly unable to handle the breach. It needs to be nationalized. New Social Security numbers need to be reissued. A compensation fund needs to be established for victims of identity theft -- one that covers all costs associated with responding to identity breaches (payment for time, attorneys' fees, accountant fees, etc).
9
The only way to keep personal information secured is to keep it to yourself. One way to do this is to employ old and new technology to protect our identity: fingerprints and eye scan. Passwords, pins and codes can always be broken, which has been proven time and again. Personal identification today should not rest on social security numbers.
5
But a fingerprint or eye scan could be falsified or stolen, or taken without your consent, and you can't change your eye or fingerprint, so no way to change if hacked.
1
Do not sign your rights to be part of a class action or other type of action away, If your information gets used, and you get harmed financially or otherwise, it would be wise to keep that option open. Maybe we have to sue these clowns into oblivion.
3
Equifax's diagnosis is simple : fat, dumb, and happy. The money rolls in and necessary stuff like competent tech staff, responsible management etc. are left to lie by the wayside. Insiders probably know it as an intensely political environment where the only rule is to get ahead no matter what. This is all theory, but it fits the facts of the ridiculous, pathetic response to the crisis. The hapless "Tim", of "go to the fake website" fame, is probably somebody's nephew.
1
Exuifax should not have to pay to put a freeze on our accounts because no one should have to pay.
1
I have repeatedly called Equifax to place a security freeze only to get a busy signal or hear that their system is 'not available'. Their lack of support to get this is done is both maddening and appalling. Credit freezes with the other two bureaus were accomplished with ease.
2
This whole thing is messed up. Putting the onus of protecting our identity and financial security onto the consumer when it was not the consumer but the credit rating industry which flagrantly failed in the most basic part of their job and mission. In my view several things aside from what the consumer is scrambling around trying to do need to happen. First the justice department needs to prosecute, fine (huge fines), and even jail those who seem to have likely known that this breach was happening for many months and may even have sold stock before it was made public. Second the major credit bureaus should either voluntarily or be forced thru threat of prosecution to provide any and all credit freezes and monitoring for any consumer who wishes to have these things done at no charge. Third Congress needs to get off its a**es and legislate required standards for handling credit and financial information. It was done for health care information (the fines and penalties are quite severe) in the HIPPA law and while no law is perfect it has helped tremendously. And finally law suits, whether class action or individual, should be a last resort if our own da*n elected government won't protect us.
12
If the data in their databases had been encrypted its being stolen wouldn’t be a problem. Such a security procedure is not rocket science. For such critical information it would have been only common sense, and common caring. In fact, it would have been a good business practice!
9
All Equifax operations should be shut down until a full federal audit is made of their entire operation and prosecute anyone that was negligent in their duties, including and most importantly the upper echelon of the company. The flippant attitude the company has toward the situation is criminal!
Also, members of Congress should immediately enact legislation to make it illegal for ANYONE other than the Federal government to make any use of Social Security numbers. The only other use that should be allowed is for state and local income taxes ONLY. Commercial use of Social Security numbers should be considered a felony!
8
Great reporting!
Here's another potential follow up item for you. After trying multiple times oin the Equifax site, I learned my info had been breached, and I was given a date to enroll in their (very poorly named) credit monitoring service, but I had to wait one week to enroll. When that date arrived, I 'enrolled' and then got a message that I would get a confirmation with additional details that might be delayed due to volume. It is now one week later and I've received nothing. Another scam?
8
Here's a strangely cute tangent. One insurance company I have a policy with was hacked, and I got a postcard telling me that there was a class action settled with policyholders getting a year of identity theft insurance and two years of identity theft management. I'm sure the parties creating the settlement all figured it was no big deal, maybe the breach was minor, and they agreed to this to make it go away. But now, by a lucky accident, they're on the hook if my data gets compromised due to Equifax, since no one can really say where the hacked data will have come from.
That said... I like to browse the internet for various historical stuff, last night I was reading about Joan of Arc, and today I browsed to "Burning At The Stake." I guess now I know what should happen to the Equifax execs. I would rather believe some random blather from Donald Trump than believe that the Equifax execs didn't know about the ongoing breach before they sold their stock.
Shouldn't the Senate Finance Committee or House Banking Committee be grilling these guys. And if it were up to me, the grilling would be more than figurative.
10
Here's a suggestion of how we can boycott Equifax and perhaps drive them out of business. EVERYONE should put a freeze on their Equifax accounts, and those who do need to get their credit checked, send the requestors to the other 2 credit agencies. Do not allow equifax to have any business.
17
You do not make the decision about which credit reporting agency is used by the credit card companies, banks, merchants, etc. to evaluate your credit.
The organization requesting the credit report makes the decision and they do not tell you which agency they use. That is why if you have your accounts frozen and need a credit report, such as for mortgage, you generally have to unfreeze all three accounts.
Thank you Mr. Lieber for offering guidance and answers and dogged reporting on this issue. New York Times is a public service. Equifax is a public enemy. We need to have more of the former, and to get rid of Equifax.
8
Sue all three of them out of existence and throw all of the Equifax executives who sold stock into jail for insider trading. Anything less is capitulation to these pigs.
8
You don't deserve an Equifax badge, you deserve a medal from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau!
So, thank you!
More and more I think that corporations are settling into the reality that much bad press will just pass, and that it is cheaper in the long run to take a short term hit in credibility than to ramp up operations and services and DO THE RIGHT THING. The only hope is for the press and public to keep up the pressure and work to make these corporations accountable. Your work on our behalf is so appreciated.
7
Equifax will have a public face soon. Three of them. Actually, the mug shots of the three executives who sold stock claiming the "Sgt. Schultz" defense "I know nothing".
Live is a bitch...and then you become someone's.
4
Thank you Mr. Lieber for your efforts. I hope that one of the questions you will ask them is what we're supposed to do if we got an Equifax credit freeze but weren't issued a PIN. I've seen a number of people report the same problem. I tried sending a certified letter to request a PIN, but who knows if that will actually accomplish anything.
2
For it is worth, here is Equifax's 9/21/17 response to my CFPB complaint, which then closed the file:
"Dear Mr. Rothstein, Thank you for contacting Equifax. We remain focused on consumer protection and committed to providing outstanding service and support. Protecting the security of the information in our possession is a responsibility we take very seriously and we apologize for the concern and frustration this cybersecurity incident causes. We have developed a comprehensive portfolio of services to support all U.S. consumers. Please refer to our dedicated website, https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com, for the latest information and updates or contact our dedicated call center at 866-447-7559. The call center was set up to assist consumers and is open every day (including weekends) from 7:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m. Eastern time."
1
I put a credit freeze at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, then closed accounts of every credit card I had that did not have a security chip so that they could not be cloned and retained every credit card that does have the security chip. Now hoping my bank has serious security measures in place for existing accounts.
8
Credit card fraud is NOT the only problem here: with your information, your medical, tax, and Social Security accounts can be hacked, allowing fraudsters to file for your benefits. The worries are only starting....
1
Mr. Lieber, please keep up the pressure on Equifax and keep reminding people of what happened and the potential consequences. Many people are only now realizing the kind of impact and influence Equifax, TransUnion and Experian have in their lives, and how little oversight and regulation there is to protect us when they misuse or mishandle that information.
Compare them to banks and credit card issuers. By law a bank is absolutely liable on a mis-paid check, and with certain limited exceptions a credit card issuer cannot go after you for fraudulent charges made on your account. As a result, they have a strong incentive to be vigilant and secure, and we can be assured that if something does happen it will not affect us very much.
But there are very few laws and regulations protecting us when it comes to the credit reporting companies. Only recently were they forced by state laws to even offer the credit freeze, which they did not want because it limits their ability to sell your information. And of course it is outrageous that you have to pay them not to give out your personal information to anyone who asks.
27
Thanks Ron, my employer's lawyer actually provide everyone in the company with a letter that included links to all of the credit bureaus so that we could freeze our accounts. I did Equifax first, of course, but then found out that it was going to cost me upwards of $70 to implement the freezes, and the same to pause said freezes if my husband and I decide to get a new credit card, car loan, etc. I am furious that these uninvited participants in the most important details of my life and finances can hold me hostage with impunity, while filling my mail box with unsolicited offers and endangering everything I have worked for. It's bad enough that the Chinese (or whoever hacked the OPM) know more about me than my mother did, but now all my unchanging base demographic data are loose in the world for malefactors to use as they see fit.
It's time to nationalize the credit bureaus and stop the scam of people making money off selling my private data without my permission.
44
Funny, it did not cost me a penny to put freezes on yesterday at all three agencies.
and yet, they will strenuously protest that regulations will dampen their business and republican politicians will not see the need for the consumer protection agency. meanwhile, if we are all luck, we will get an apology....nothing more....for the massive mess that we will all need to clean up individually. Awesome!
18
Equifax was woefully unprepared for this breach, and seemingly indifferent now that it has occurred. The confirmation that PIN's weren't randomized by simply a time-stamp shows how little they cared about protecting the data they were entrusted with.
In freezing my credit, I didn't face many of the issues others reported, though I did have trouble freezing through Equifax's web portal. They phone version was pretty painless however.
The credit protection steps I followed can be found here:
https://www.vpnuniversity.com/security/how-to-protect-credit-after-equif...
But each day the story gets worse for Equifax as it shows that executives were willfully blind to the security failings. And worse, they don't seem to have a reliable system for assisting the breach victims. They even tweeted links to a fraudulent website spoofed to resemble the breach impact tool they built on a non equifax.com domain. It's just negligent at every turn.
And will I be surprised if the SEC investigation finds that executives were aware of the breach before dumping stock? No I will not.
25
I'll be surprised if the SEC even does an investigation. At least while the present politicians exist. A few good states might help.
When I went to register for a credit freeze, I saw I had to include my Social Security number. It seems like adding insult to injury. Do I just bite the bullet and supply it?
6
Yep. Look they already have your SSN, so it's not like you're offering up valuable data for free. It's the only way that they can validate you're you. Although after this breach an SSN as validation is basically useless, which is why you DO need to freeze your credit.
7
Yes, they already know your ss number and are confirming it. You won't be allowed to continue without providing it.
2
yeah, how else can they verify it's you?
besides, they also ask you a series of other questions for validation beyond ss#
i suggest freezing it for all 5 bureaus (standard 3 + chex systems + innovis)
in some states, it's free
Thank you for the writing. Why not just shut these companies down? What do they do for people? This is just 1 big rip off. Prove to me that they were really hacked? What if they just sold the information? After all, high executives of the company sold stock just before they announced the "breach." Has the FBI or other cyber expects reported a valid breach?
28
Yeah, they had no idea what a credit freeze was and was told to fill out a form online. The form contains all personal info even mom maiden name! Unbelievable. Placed a hold at the other 2 and paid $10.00 each for my husband and I, this clown based company, still leaving me out in the cold.
If most companies behaved like this they'd be out of business, we can all pray this company dies a long, slow death!
If most companies behaved like this they'd be out of business, we can all pray this company dies a long, slow death!
11
I'm in favor of a quick, forced death. My report(s) are fraught with errors. An erroneous report from Transunion cost me an apartment rental (maybe several, for all I know), cost me at least one job for which I was applying, and, or course, I can't get a credit card or any other credit, except from the predatory banks like Capital One, Orchard Bank, and others, which have enormous interest rates, and fees before ever using the card, and fees and fees and fees.
Finally, before this all happened, I wanted to do my annual free credit check. After navigating several sites which wanted to sell me "credit monitoring services" - INCLUDING EQUIFAX - LOL - I found the legitimate, free site and requested my information online. I provided everything they asked for, and hit "enter", and was told that they "could not complete the request with the information provided", and to call an 800 number. I gave them the correct information that THEY asked for. I did it more than once, with the same result. I guess they think if they can get me on the phone, they can more easily sell me that credit monitoring program, for which they would have had to refund my money, since I was hacked.
I remember a time when these agencies served a purpose, and made an effort to provided accurate information. Now, they just "scoop up" any info they can find on us, and sell it to anyone who wants it - prospective employers, insurance companies, landlords, ANYONE. It's time for Equifax, et al to be dissolved.
Finally, before this all happened, I wanted to do my annual free credit check. After navigating several sites which wanted to sell me "credit monitoring services" - INCLUDING EQUIFAX - LOL - I found the legitimate, free site and requested my information online. I provided everything they asked for, and hit "enter", and was told that they "could not complete the request with the information provided", and to call an 800 number. I gave them the correct information that THEY asked for. I did it more than once, with the same result. I guess they think if they can get me on the phone, they can more easily sell me that credit monitoring program, for which they would have had to refund my money, since I was hacked.
I remember a time when these agencies served a purpose, and made an effort to provided accurate information. Now, they just "scoop up" any info they can find on us, and sell it to anyone who wants it - prospective employers, insurance companies, landlords, ANYONE. It's time for Equifax, et al to be dissolved.
2
Equifax needs to be shut down. Their corporate officers need to be indicted.
47
Agreed. Please spend your reporting time interviewing prosecutors, regulators and legislators.
Thank you for being a (slightly more powerful) representative of all of us. Public noise is important if anything will make Equifax responsible.
24
Thank you, thank you thank you for your updates!
20
Thank you for staying on this story. I have managed to place a credit freeze with Equifax, but still have not been able to enroll in the free credit monitoring despite multiple attempts. Usually I am getting a "system unavailable" message. Really think Equifax should be paying for credit freezes at the other credit bureaus as well.
14
Following professional advice, I put freezes on my data at all three of the credit reporting companies. Equifax was the only one that did not allow me to create my own pin. Wonder why that was.
3
What's even worse is the way Equifax had been generating their PIN's. You'd think it'd be random, but NOPE. It's just a date/timestamp of the exact minute you requested the freeze. Brilliant.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/10/your-money/identity-theft/equifax-bre...
3