I've gotten a few emails from places I've done or currently do business with warning me of the breach and letting me know my information was possibly compromised. I'll be copying your list and taking some time to cover myself as much as possible. And yes, the modern age is grand.

For those of you who might be interested, I offer the following list of credit and information gathers that appear in our lives on a more regular basis (note this is NOT all there is). Should you desire to place a Security Credit Freezes this list equals a start: Experian, Equifax, Trans Union, LexisNexis (used in the insurance industry), Innovis, Sage Stream, Chex Systems, IDA, ARS as starters. They do not all accept requests for security credit freezes on line but rather rely on mail and fax (isn't this old school?). You will likely be required to send in proof of who you (identity) are and that may include a driver license/ID Card with picture, US Passport photo page, copy of a utility bill, insurance declaration page or other related type documents. When I froze them they followed back with a letter and pin number which took up to two plus weeks to receive. The US Treasury Department "Social Security" Agency has introduced a additional method of security in addition to the three they have now to further restrict access (short of not allowing most any form of account access). It is a nuisance but I check all my accounts and banks daily (it is a ritual now) as I don't trust anybody and surely not a telephone call!!! Get hit with SCAMMERS virtually every day. Be careful that when pursuing any form of anything these days you are working with an authentic website as the crooks have been reported placing look a like websites for us to use and then they grab our information off of them. Good luck as you consider your options for security. Note, Equifax has added another 2.5 million accounts to the already reported 143 million. So glad we live in the modern age

And with a lavish pension, which is exactly what Richard Smith just did yesterday.

But what gets me about this whole thing is this: These companies acquire our personal finance information, package it however they do and then sell it. Say, to a banking institution so that institution has the information available to help them decide if we get a loans. This is how they make money, and do they ask any of us if we approve? NO. Do they offer any of us a portion of the profit that THEY make by selling OUR information without OUR approval? NO.

Something needs to be done about this end of those operations.

A heads up, Equifax had the security patch in March 2017 that would have blocked the hack but, they did not install it. Personally, I think senior managers should have their assets seized and jail time would be very appropriate. Instead they just retire.

True. You also witch Equifax could have better security and more control over their data.

Moneyes wrote: A couple of things. First, if your credit score is 200, what exactly do you have to worry about?

Second, the first thing I thought about when I saw this topic was Dave Ramsey. He told his audience one time that he has had a credit score of 0 for 20 years. Whatever it is that he buys, he pay cash. You don't need credit or a credit score when you pay for everything in cash. Your credit score does not determine your wealth. It determines how easy it is to get a higher credit limit so you can be more in debt.

I know, few of us are in a situation where we can pay for everything in cash (bank debit is the same thing), but for most of us it shouldn't take over 10 years to get ourselves there.This story, to me at least, just underscores the importance of doing just that.

I think Dave Ramsey has a lot of great ideas, but I do not agree with his logic of 0 debt and no credit cards. It limits your leverage ability.

That article is insightful. I'm reading everything I can about it to determine my best course of action. It's hard to find good information from expected outlets. Even though it's out, it's never hit the prominence I thought it would considering the number of people it impacts.

Thanks for linking that article FINANCE GLOBE. It's amazing how far reaching the consequences are from this breach. I like your PIN number idea, but saw today where Equifax experienced a year long breach involving payroll data and pin numbers. I agree that something needs to change, but the problem with the pin number idea, is that it requires corporations, government entities, and others to be upfront when they are hacked. And they are too busy protecting their own assets and jobs against liabilities to care. An individual can't mitigate the damage by requesting a new pin number if they don't know they've been compromised. And by the time these cyber attacks are made public, the harm is already done.

Do you think anyone will sue successfully? Here's an article from Lazymanandmoney .com about filing a suit against Equifax in small claims court without needing an attorney.

A good article from Website Magazine for anyone with a website. Expect fake signups, orders and accounts: https://www.websitemagazine.com/blog/what-businesses-need-to-know-in-the-wake-of-the-equifax-breach

A thought I had the other day. We should all get a pin number we can change that's tied to our identity. Apply for a loan, apartment, credit card, or whatever requires a credit check, that pin needs to be verified. If we are compromised then we simply get a new pin by mail. There has to be a better way than what we are doing.

Wanderer wrote: Yes here is a quote from the terms of service:

"You will be forfeiting Your right to bring or participate in any class action (whether as a named plaintiff or a class member) or to share in any class action awards, including class claims where a class has not yet been certified, even if the facts and circumstances upon which the Claims are based already occurred or existed."

Apparently this has changed due to public outcry. Victims of the attack can use the monitoring service without agreeing to binding arbitration. It's not recommended to use it though. I'm shocked that Equifax is still charging people for it. I don't mean to keep bumping this thread, but it's so disturbing to me.
https://consumerist.com/2017/09/11/dont-take-equifax-up-on-its-credit-monitoring-offer/
https://consumerist.com/2017/09/15/sen-elizabeth-warren-introduces-bill-that-would-make-credit-freezes-free/#more-10289105

The only good thing that might come of this, is learning about the finances of crooks. Just as with the Ashley Madison hack where good, family men were outed, I bet we'll see corporations and billionaires outed for their financial crimes. There's bound to be a smoking gun.

Moneyes wrote:

JacksonM wrote: This is a ridiculous situation. The fact that they can't say if the information was encrypted (seriously?),

They think we're stupid if they expect us to believe that. If they were encrypted, the odds of this happening are slim. And if they were encrypted, it was outdated if a black hatter can come in and decypher it. No one wants to deal with a financial company that is so slipshod to where the criminals can outsmart them like this.

They can play stupid all they want. I will not deal with them for the simple fact that they are unprofessional.

I honestly think this will be the end of them. Its too large of a data breach to come back from.

Has anyone else used other credit monitoring services for protection?

JacksonM wrote: This is a ridiculous situation. The fact that they can't say if the information was encrypted (seriously?),

They think we're stupid if they expect us to believe that. If they were encrypted, the odds of this happening are slim. And if they were encrypted, it was outdated if a black hatter can come in and decypher it. No one wants to deal with a financial company that is so slipshod to where the criminals can outsmart them like this.

They can play stupid all they want. I will not deal with them for the simple fact that they are unprofessional.

When you find a good one let us all know. My daughter's bank account is having issues right now. She is at the bank as we speak. Someone put a $20 hold on her account and someone else took about $30 so far so she is there trying to find out what the deal is. Never had this problem before so I told her to start another account.

JGibbs wrote:

FrankN wrote:
I am planning on getting credit monitoring services, but will not use Equifax because I plan to pursue action against them.

Have you found a reputable company? I've been checking around, but it's hard to separate facts from hype. I've looked at LifeLock, but after reading the small print I'm giving it a pass. The commercials brag that if you're a client, they'll spend up to $1 million dollars to "hire lawyers, investigators, consultants and whatever else it takes to restore your name and help you recover the direct losses from the identity theft." Which sounds fantastic; however, there are so many exclusions and got'chas that it's pretty useless. They seem to have encryption problems too, and have been in trouble with the FTC more than once .

None of them have great reviews, but I am looking at AllClear ID. The important thing is you should definitely keep a close eye of your credit each month. If you notice anything, report it immediately.