Just passing on some info I heard, I am not expert and take it for what you think it worth....
I heard a interview with a security specialist that added some real info to this situation....
First, the Equifax site has been inconsistant telling people one day they were affected and the next they were not...
Even fake SS#s are getting responses so assume you are affected whether you don't check or if you do check no matter what it says.
They say they will be sending out snail mail letters to those who they determine have truly been affected.
As far as credit freezes, they stop the agency from sending out credit reports on you... they do not stop changes to existing credit and they don't stop new credit from being opened... Of course legit businesses, mortgage companies, car dealers, and banks would not open new credit without a credit report. But there are PayDay loan centers and pawn shops and other agencies that deal with people with poor credit so they extend credit without checking because it costs money to run a check and they know it will come back bad anyhow so they save the money and just give the credit. Changing the location your credit bills go to (email or snailmail) can extend the amount of time to use your credit fraudulantly as you will not be getting your bills. Freezes cannot stop any of this.
Filing a fraudulant tax return and stealing your refund is another form of ID theft and credit freezes do nothing to stop this. Filing as early as possible helps but because of regulations, many people do not get all the info they need until late March early April so it may not be possible for everyone.
Filing medical insurance fraud can screw up your medical records because it can cause multiple entries for blood types, past treatments and operations and this can cause confusion in a medical emergency and credit freezes do nothing to stop this.
Criminal record fraud is another item. You get a notice that you didn't show up for you court date in California for assault when you were in New York at the time. You may even have to actually go to court in the other state to show it wasn't you and again, credit freezes do nothing to stop this.
So while credit freezes help, they don't do as much as people think they do. Also right now with the deluge of requests for freezes, people are having problems getting them setup or may not be sure whether it got in or not.
One thing that is not getting much press is social security fraud. I attended a SS seminar and was shocked at how widespread this is.
If you have not signed up for an online My Social Security account, you may want to... soon. I heard horror stories of people who never setup the online account, who were collecting SS and suddenly they stopped getting their money and when they contacted SS they were told someone setup their online account and changed their direct deposit account. Since they didn't know the email or password it was difficult to straighten it out without a visit to their office. Also they have people who never setup the online account because they weren't going to start collecting until say 65 or later. When the time came to file they discovered that they had been collecting since 62 at a reduced rate. It seems that someone setup the online account and started collecting at 62 with their own direct deposit account and no one knew for years until the real person wanted to file. All very difficult to straighten out.
So the best defense is to stay alert and vigilant. If a credit freeze works for you, by all means do it, but it may be better to wait until things calm down alittle and you can be sure it is done and done right. Also, consider setting up your SS online account to protect it and remember everyone at any age (as long as you have a SS number) should consider doing it.
Ironically just as I finished writing this, I saw an Consumer Reports article that confirms these points so check this out... The key is a credit freeze will not fix everything....
https://www.consumerreports.org/equifax/a-freeze-wont-help-with-all-equifax-breach-threats/
Good luck everyone and hopefully some good will come out of this.
Pete