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Equifax Hack 143 million victims

GetawaysRus

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My wife has been concerned about identify theft for years. I have held her at bay in the past and avoided signing up for one of the identity theft protection services. But it looks like the Equifax hack will be the final straw that will force me to submit and sign up. I realize that this won't prevent identify theft, but it would hopefully make recovery and restoration easier if we were victims.

I'm starting to look at it like this: we now have a fair number of ongoing expenses that my parents never had to pay for. This includes Internet service, cell phone service, and pay TV service to name a few. We have such a highly connected and computerized financial system that these hacks seem inevitable, and there are likely to be more. Identify theft protection may just be another expense of modern life that we have to deal with but our parents did not.
 

GetawaysRus

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x3 skier

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By this time I'm actually glad the Chinese stole my entire life history from the OPM breach. There's nothing left to loose.

Cheers
 

bogey21

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And now your freeze can be hacked....l

Knowing that it is impossible to cover every possibility, I have in addition to freezing my accounts at all 4 (Innovis being the 4th) Credit Reporting Agencies I subscribe (for I think $9.95 a month) to a service that will report to me every time there is activity on my account at one of the 3 major Credit Reporting Agencies. In addition I check the activity on my Bank Accounts and Credit Cards every morning. About once a month I check the activity on all my Health Insurance Accounts. I figure I have done all I can do. So far, so good.

What I have decided do with the IRS is make sure I owe them rather than they owe me when I file my FIT Return. This doesn't stop someone from using my SSN to file a fraudulent return for a refund. I think, however, that it puts me in a better position with the IRS when I file and pay what I owe and making (hopefully) any fraudulent refund as their problem

George
 
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MuranoJo

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This is the 3rd time my data has been at risk due to a large corporation getting hacked--so I finally decided to freeze my accounts as well and did so tonight (after signing up for Equifax's free credit monitoring service).

I waited until later (~11 PM ET) and got right in with all of them.
 

uop1497

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Since the number is too big, I assume our name is among of these victim name.

I have not taken any action yet. Is it a must to do a credit freeze with all 3 big Credit Bureau. Is the step of freezing credit is simple . What I need to so.

Anything else needs to be done to protect ourselves. Please share your inputs.
 

MuranoJo

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Since the number is too big, I assume our name is among of these victim name.

I have not taken any action yet. Is it a must to do a credit freeze with all 3 big Credit Bureau. Is the step of freezing credit is simple . What I need to so.

Anything else needs to be done to protect ourselves. Please share your inputs.

Here's a good article which summarizes the situation, plus suggestions on actions you should take.
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/09/the-equifax-breach-what-you-should-know/
 

WinniWoman

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My husbands' account supposedly was not at risk but they had offered the free trusted Id protection, which he requested. But they never sent him the email to finish enrolling.
 

WinniWoman

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My husbands' account supposedly was not at risk but they had offered the free trusted Id protection, which he requested. But they never sent him the email to finish enrolling.
 

bogey21

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One place there is not much you can do to protect yourself is where someone files a FIT Return using your SSN to get a "Refund" from the IRS. The most common advice to preclude this happening to you is to file your FIT early. The problem is that in many cases you can't file early as you don't have all the information you need to file.

Although it is not a perfect solution, the way I handle this is to manage my withholding so that when I file I will owe the IRS rather than being entitled to a refund. Some may tell you that there are penalties if you owe the IRS too much when you file. All I can say is that I have been doing this for almost 10 years now and the IRS has happily accepted my money and has never charged me a penalty.

George
 

Talent312

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Some may tell you that there are penalties if you owe the IRS too much when you file...

It's not what "some" say, it's what the IRS says. But most folks fall under one of these exceptions:
-- Owe less than $1,000 after deducting withholding + estimated payments;
-- You paid at least 90% of your total tax for the year' or
-- You paid at least the same as you paid the previous year.
See: Tax Topic No.306 or Pub.No.505.

------------------------------------------------------
That said, being the 1st to file under your tax ID number is not a bad idea.

.
 
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DeniseM

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When our ID was stolen, someone filed a tax return under my husband's SSN and got $7,000 from the IRS. (Not our money - we always have to pay.)

We submitted all the Docs with the IRS to prove our ID was stolen, and they sent each of us a pin number which we must use to file our taxes. I don't know if everyone can get a pin number from the IRS, or only after someone has actually filed a fraudulent tax return using your ID.
 

WinniWoman

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Hubby finally got the link to the trusted ID page and signed up for the free monitoring.
 

mdurette

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Also, phishing attempts have started. I received this bogus email to my work email account. Complete with the Equifax logo. So many people are awaiting emails from Equifax that I can easily see this working out well for the bad guys.

Dear Equifax Consumer,

As integrity is a primary concern of ours, we want to make sure you are aware of a recent data compromise that may have affected your personal information.

We have created a website for you to check if your information was involved in this compromise.

If you find that your information has been compromised, we are offering the ability to freeze your Equifax credit report as well as a free year of credit monitoring, to assist in protecting you from identity theft.
Click here to take advantage of these offers.

Your trust is a top priority for Equifax, and we sincerely regret the inconvenience this may cause. The privacy and protection of your personal information is a matter we take very seriously and we are working diligently to resolve this incident.

Sincerely,
Equifax Credit Bureau
 

uop1497

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I would like to know after you put a freeze on your account . What will happen with your current credit card you use daily. Can you still use it on regular basis as you desires. Is there any other thing may affect your credit card in your possession.

What will happens if you need to apply for a loan and the bank / lender want to run a credit history on you.

Each time you place a freeze and unfreeze, does it cost you to pay a free again. How much is the cost.

If you decide to put a freeze on your credit history account, how long you tend to keep it on the freeze. Will freeze/ unfreeze will give you a negative mark on your credit history.

Please advise and thank you.
 

DeniseM

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Freezing your credit doesn't impact your current credit cards or loans. The freeze prevents new credit/loans/credit cards from being opened.

To get a loan or a new credit card, you have to contact the credit bureaus and suspend the freeze.

The freeze isn't permanent - it has to be renewed, but I'm not sure how often.

I just froze our credit with the 3 credit bureaus and it was $10 for some and free for some - I don't remember which ones.

It should have no impact on your credit rating.
 

Talent312

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A freeze will not affect use of CC's. But if you ask for C/L increase, they'll want to pull a CR.
Any loan / insurance / rental application will likely require you to unfreeze at 1 - 3 places.
There's often a small fee ($10) to freeze and unfreeze CR's, waived for actual ID theft cases.
It will not affect your credit score.

Nor will it stop someone else from charging your CC (you likely have -0- liability for that).
ID theft may occur in other contexts (like IRS returns), which credit freezes do not stop.
.
 

mdurette

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Just an FYI about freezes - the best thing to do is remember your PIN to unfreeze when needed!

The credit vendor my employer uses said that folks seeking new credit or who are in the midst of the mortgage process are forgetting the PIN number (issued by the credit bureau) to unfreeze their account. This is ordinarily not an issue, since PIN’s can be reset by phone, but the call volume to the bureaus remains overwhelming. Affected consumers are finding that busy signals, lengthy wait time and frequent disconnections.

This can be a major issue when you need your credit run.....at the car dealer ready to buy a car, you are applying for a mortgage, etc.

When you apply for a mortgage, your credit is typically pulled twice: at application and a few days prior to closing. If you froze with all three bureaus and have two people on the application - that would be 12 lifts of the freeze. Not being able to unfreeze (especially for the one prior to closing) would cause closing delays.

So folks...remember that PIN if you decide to freeze your reports.
 

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The advice to have your PIN available is right on. I have had my accounts at all 4 (including Innovis) frozen for years now and have had no problems when needing to lift the freeze. First, I ask the prospective lender which Credit Bureau they want to access; Second, I tell them I will call them immediately upon receiving confirmation that my freeze has been lifted; and Third, I tell them that they will only have 24 hours to pull my credit as I have only removed the freeze for that amount of time. Doing it this way it has never been a problem.

George
 

tompalm

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That is unlikely. Answering those four questions is difficult. They asked about my last home loan and wanted to know details that I could not remember without digging up my paperwork to get the right info. The other three questions were not ones that a hacker would be able to find very easy. A freeze is the best protection. I froze mine about 10 years ago and have no regrets. My wife just froze hers after the Equifax hack.
 

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Related and amusing story about "The Monopoly Man" who photobombed Equifax CEO during congressional hearings
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-equifax-ceo-richard-smith-at-senate-hearing/

"The man was actually a woman, Amanda Werner, a campaign manager for the nonprofit groups Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen. Werner, who sported a tuxedo, an enormous white mustache and a bulging bag of $100 bills, said her goal was to photobomb Smith as he testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Her group aims to bring attention to congressional attempts to undermine a new consumer protection rule intended to weaken the forced arbitration clauses in many contracts."

"Werner and her colleagues also hand-delivered “get out of jail free cards” to all 100 Senate offices on Tuesday, she said."
 
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