Recently Equifax revealed that 143 million consumers had their personal information exposed in a data breach from May to June 2017. That represents 44% of the American population.
When you consider the population also includes children and those who don’t have a credit history, we can assume over 50% of the American consumers have been potentially affected.
What To Do?
The first step is to determine if your information was part of the Equifax data breach. To do so visit http://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/. After reading about the incident, scroll to the bottom and click on the “Potential Impact” button. You will be prompted to Enter your last name and the last 6 digits of your Social Security number. You will then be notified if your personal information was at risk. Next you will be given an opportunity to enroll, on a complimentary basis, in Trusted ID Premier, which is an identity theft and credit file monitoring product. Regardless of whether your personal data was breached you are allowed to register. You will then be prompted to enter additional information including a valid email address and phone number. A few days later you should receive an email with a link to complete your enrollment. Enrollment ends November 21, 2017. Further information is available from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) here.
For more great information on all things credit-related, head to our 'Basics of Credit' reference page.
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