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March 13, 2022 Post a Comment

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Finding out that your personal information was compromised and may take gotten into the incorrect hands is never good news. And many Americans institute this out the difficult way due to a information breach involving Equifax, one of the three major credit bureaus.

To find out whether you're one of the millions of Americans whose personal information may have been compromised during the massive Equifax data breach that occurred in 2017, you can visit a specific website and fill in bones information to cheque your status. The initial deadline to file a claim in the Equifax settlement was in Jan 2020, but you may still be eligible for boosted assistance, including free identity restoration services, through 2026. Knowing the best ways to keep your personal information prophylactic can as well be helpful if something similar happens in the future.

Equifax is one of the three major credit bureaus, alongside Experian and TransUnion. It collects financial information about millions of Americans, including details about their debts, to help make up one's mind their creditworthiness and whether they're risky for financial institutions to lend to. It as well sells services, such as fraud protection and credit monitoring, directly to consumers and helps people keep track of their credit status.

Aside from obtaining your credit report and score, you can use Equifax to protect yourself from identity theft, utilize various tools to prepare to make a large purchase (such equally a home or new car) and obtain a free copy of your Equifax credit study, which shows credit-related information most you. Y'all tin can also enact alerts and freeze reporting when you need to inform lenders that you've been (or could become) a victim of fraud.

Was My Data Part of the Breach?

In September 2017, Equifax appear a data breach that exposed the personal information of 147 million people had taken place. Amid the compromised information were habitation addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, names, drivers license numbers and Social Security numbers. The set on also breached credit card numbers and expiration dates of virtually 209,000 customers. Following the attack, Equifax created a separate website, https://world wide web.equifaxsecurity2017.com/, for individuals to apply to find out whether their information had been compromised every bit office of this breach.

If you're not sure whether your information has been compromised, you tin visit the official settlement website for the Equifax Data Breach Settlement at https://world wide web.equifaxsecurity2017.com. To start, fill out your last name and the last six digits of your Social Security number. From there, you'll find out whether your personal information was exposed during the alienation.

How Tin can I Keep My Personal Information Prophylactic?

You're legally allowed to get a gratis copy of your credit written report from every credit reporting bureau every 12 months. Once you obtain your report, comb through it to ensure that all of your information is updated and right. Reviewing your reports on a regular footing allows y'all to potentially catch alarm signs of identity theft. Wait for unpaid accounts that you're certain you didn't open.

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Another selection is to put a freeze or lock on your credit study. Yous tin can exercise this with Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Each of these 3 major credit bureaus also lets you place fraud alerts on your credit report. This find lets lenders and others who pull your credit written report know that you may accept been a victim of identity theft and some information that appears on your credit report may exist incorrect.

What Happens Now?

Following the data breach, a lawsuit was generated betwixt afflicted individuals, Equifax Inc. and 2 of its subsidiaries. Nether the settlement, Equifax agreed to pay $425 meg to assist those affected by its data breach.

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If you were impacted by the breach, you could exist eligible for reimbursement up to $20,000 to help encompass the money you spent to protect yourself against identity theft, including freezing or unfreezing credit reports, and the fourth dimension you spent protecting your identity or recovering from identity theft.

The initial deadline for filing a merits in the Equifax settlement was January 22, 2020. Withal, you lot tin can still file a claim for expenses incurred betwixt January 23, 2020, and Jan 22, 2024, regarding fraud related to the breach or identity theft. You can also file a merits for time spent recovering from fraud or identity theft during this time period. If you don't file a merits, you lot may still exist able to get free identity restoration services along with six gratuitous credit reports through 2026, in add-on to your one costless Equifax study.