Equifax Data Breach

[TheMan419]

Re the claim that the "theft" is an attempt to get you to sign up for their credit monitoring product....

I know it is in fashion on tbn to bash lawyers. However at least 2 different class actions have been filed against Equifax for violating the FCRA. That entitles each of the 143 million victims a min award of $100. So $14.3 BILLION plus attorney fees which could be over a billion.

I think that will get their attention.

 

[California]

I think that will get their attention.

I hope so. But they may think the money is better spent on lobbyists.

I thought it was illegal how the corporate principals unloaded stock before making an announcement to their shareholders. They must have a lot of faith in having first rate lawyers to get them through this untouched.


I don't think the hack was a marketing gimmick. But the response that Equifax assembled looks like it was devised by the marketing division without input from an IT crisis response team.

 

[downsizingnow48]

I went to the Equifax website, it was not meant to help. It was clearly meant to increase revenue and reduce liability.

Instead I set up credit freezes on all three services for me and my wife. I dunno how much protection that provides, but it seems to be the best option available.

 

[rekees4300]

Instead I set up credit freezes on all three services for me and my wife. I dunno how much protection that provides, but it seems to be the best option available.

Smart action :thumbsup:

 

[California]

Credit freeze should prevent anyone opening a new credit card or charge account in your name.

But can it prevent someone from draining an account that stands behind Paypal, or from using a debit card that draws straight from your savings?

 

[downsizingnow48]

I run PayPal off a dedicated account that never has more than about $1000 in it. Same for the debit cards. We made those changes after my wife lost $15k from her debit account. She got it back but it was a wake up call.

 

[California]

Likewise here.

Paypal pulls from the credit union account dedicated to farm expenses, I hold around $1,000 in that credit union account. And I trust the CU to have my back if I get scammed.

The debit card is different, it draws from an account that receives Direct Deposit (pensions & SS for both of us) and has utilities etc paid automatically from it. I don't know how proactive that account would be if a bogus charge came through.

MasterCard, a third account, did phone me for authorization for $2500 of propane purchased in Kazakhstan or some place out there east of Russia. No, I used the card to have the septic tank pumped yesterday. MC refused the charge and sent me a new card.

 

[rekees4300]

Credit freeze should prevent anyone opening a new credit card or charge account in your name.

But can it prevent someone from draining an account that stands behind Paypal, or from using a debit card that draws straight from your savings?

No to both questions. I would NEVER link an account to Paypal or any other company. I use a credit card for Paypal.

 

[downsizingnow48]

All of our income goes into separate accounts where we do not have either debit cards or credit cards. We move it from there to the small working accounts as needed. But nothing is perfect protection these days.

 

[dmccarty]

I can't remember which large company got hacked but we got a free lock on the credit bureaus so we did. The only time I have had to unlock the account(s) is when changing the cell phone company and getting new phones. A bit of a pain but worthwhile in the end.

Locking your credit information is about the best you can do. I don't link our checking or saving accounts with our accounts that can take money from our accounts. Everything goes to a credit card and we write danged few paper checks. The payments are now electronic payments, which is still a check, but I don't think a human has access to the number, unless the account itself is hacked. Possible of course.

The wife got her ID hacked a few years ago because of an old check at a doctor's office. We knew it had to be a doctor's office because we have not used the account in decades and the only business we can think of that would have had all of her information had to have been health care related.

Later,
Dan