#equifax data breach

If you had an account with them between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2016 you can file a claim for alternative compensation just like with equifax, just make sure you have credit monitoring like credit karma or something.

It includes traditional Yahoo email accounts, as well as accounts on other sites that were owned or operated by Yahoo during the relevant time period, including Yahoo Fantasy Sports, Yahoo Finance, Tumblr, and Flickr.

Remember the huge data breach from Equifax that rocked the cyber security world in 2017? There is a follow-up story to this incident now that Equifax is apparently paying back its affected customers. However, nothing is as simple as it sounds. You may want to claim money for Equifax's data breach, but now we see reports coming up that say settlement may be harder than you think. What is all this and what can you do if you want to file a claim to get part of the deal? Check out the rest of this entry.

How Did Equifax Data Breach Unfold?

Equifax reported a security breach in September 2017. This breach resulted in the disclosure of over 143 million social security numbers. In addition, hackers stole all sorts of personal data, including driver's license and credit card numbers, dates of birth, addresses, and the like.

Then a March 2018 report said data from another 2.4 million consumers was also stolen. In addition, in June 2018, it was reported that the original breach also resulted in over 3200 leaked password photos as well. As a result, data breach affected at least 147.9 Americans.

A probe was launched to check Equifax's activities to find the reason behind the theft of personal data. The investigation found that the company did not employ adequate measures to prevent similar data breaches and also did not keep its computer systems up to date. Anyone who knows at least a little about cyber security is more than aware of how vital it is to keep their systems up to date. At the end of the line, it is not surprising that the company experienced a data breach in the first place.

n September of 2017, Equifax announced a data breach that exposed the personal information of 147 million people. The company has agreed to a global settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and 50 U.S. states and territories. The settlement includes up to $425 million to help people affected by the data breach.

Cash Payments (capped at up to $20,000 per person)

For expenses you paid as a result of the breach, like:

For the time you spent dealing with the breach. You can be compensated up to $25 per hour up to 20 hours. There are limited funds available so your claim may be reduced

Losses from unauthorized charges to your accounts

The cost of freezing or unfreezing your credit report

The cost of credit monitoring

Fees you paid to professionals like an accountant or attorney

Other expenses like notary fees, document shipping fees and postage, mileage, and phone charges.

For the cost of Equifax credit monitoring and related services you had between September 7, 2016, and September 7, 2017, capped at 25 percent of the total amount you paid.

If you submit a claim for 10 hours or less, you must describe the actions you took and the time you spent doing those things.

If you claim more than 10 hours, you must describe the actions you took AND provide documents that show identity theft, fraud, or other misuse of your information.

Even if you do not file a claim, you can get:

Free Help Recovering from Identity Theft

For at least seven years, you can get free identity restoration services. If you discover misuse of your personal information, call the settlement administrator at 1-833-759-2982. You will be given instructions for how to access free identity restoration service.

What's wrong with just using credit monitoring you might ask? These services do not prevent thieves from using your identity to open new lines of credit and damaging your good name for years to come. The most you can expect is credit monitoring services to alert you soon after an identity thief steals your identity.

If it is any teacher's past experience, anyone who has a freeze on their credit file will need to briefly unfreeze the file at Equifax before signing up for the service when it is offered. Since a law mandated that freezes across the land take effect, all three departments made it significantly easier to set up and lift safety freezes.

Probably too easy, actually. Especially for people who froze before Equifax renewed its freezing portal. Those people were given a numeric PIN to lift, thaw, or remove a freeze, but Equifax no longer allows these users to do these things online with their PIN alone.

This PIN currently plays no role in any freezing or thawing process. To create an account on the MyEquifax portal, simply provide your name, address, Social Security number, date of birth, any telephone number (all data points exposed in the Equifax violation and in any case widely available for sale on cybercrime) and answer 4 multiple-guessing questions whose answers are often available in public records or social media.

So this is one more reason why you should freeze your credit: If you don't sign up for MyEquifax, someone can do it for you.

What else can you do in the meantime? Be wary of any phone calls or emails that you have not signed up to invoke this data breach and ask you to provide personal and / or financial information.

And if you haven't done so already, get a free copy of your credit report from annualcreditreport.com; By law, all Americans are entitled to a free report from each of the major agencies annually. You can opt for one report or all three at once. Either way, be sure to read the report (s) closely and dispute anything that seems incorrect.

For a long time, my opinion is that the three big departments are massively stifling innovation and offering consumers so little choice or saying in the business that is being done behind their hard work, integrity and honesty. The real question is, if someone or something eventually serves to disintermediate the big three and open the door to competition, what would be the net effect for consumers?

Obviously, there's no way of knowing for sure, but a company that really offered to pay consumers anywhere close to what their data is really worth would probably erase these digital dinosaurs from the face of the earth.

That is, if the banks could board. After all, banks and their various fingers are what drive the credit industry. And these giants do not move very quickly. They are extremely difficult to activate the simplest changes. And they are not known for quickly warming up to a whole new model of doing business (ie huge cost investments).

My hometown, Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.), Seems to suggest that the $ 650 million deal was about half of what it should be.

“Americans don't choose to have companies like Equifax collects their data - by the nature of their business models, credit bureaus collect your personal information, whether you want it or not. In view of this, the penalties for not guaranteeing such data should be appropriately accented. While I am happy to see that customers who have been harmed as a result of Equifax's blind security practices will receive some compensation, we need structural reforms and greater oversight by credit reporting agencies to ensure that this never happens again. ”

We'll see how this unfolds, but I will be surprised if anything related to seizing this deal is painless. I still can't get a free copy of my Equifax credit report, as I am entitled under the law for free every year. I even requested a copy by mail, according to their instructions. Until now, nothing.

But let's say that, for the sake of argument, our questioner is basically correct - that this deal breaks with about $ 3 in meat extracted from Equifax for each affected person. The point is that this amount is probably less than what Equifax does by selling its credit history to potential lenders each year.

In a 2017 report on the Equifax breach, I quoted financial fraud expert Avivah Litan as saying that credit bureaus earn about $ 1 each time they sell their credit file to a potential lender (or identity thief if passing by you). According to recent New York Federal Reserve statistics, there were about 145 million heavy credit credits in the fourth quarter of 2018 (it is unknown how many were legitimate or desired).

But there is one thing you can do to prevent Equifax and other departments from profiting this way: Freeze your credit files with them.

A security freeze essentially blocks any potential lender from being able to view or "pull" your credit file unless you unfreeze or unfreeze the file in advance. With a freeze on your credit file, identity thieves can apply for credit on your behalf whatever they want, but will not be able to get new credit lines on your behalf because few lenders will extend this credit without being able to do so. to gauge how risky it is to lend to you. And now it's free for all Americans.

This post explains in detail what is involved in freezing your files. how to put, defrost or remove a freeze; the limitations of a freeze and possible side effects; and alternatives to freezing.

In short, affected consumers may request one or more features, including:

Free Credit Monitoring: At least three years of credit monitoring through all three major agencies simultaneously, including Equifax, Experian and Trans Union. The deal also provides for another six years of single agency monitoring through Experian. Or, if you don't want to take advantage of credit monitoring offers, opt for a $ 125 cash payment. You cannot receive both.

–Refund:… ​​For the time you spent correcting the identity theft or misuse of your personal information caused by the breach, or the purchase of credit reports or credit monitoring. This is limited to 20 total hours at $ 25 per hour ($ 500). The total cash refund payment will not exceed $ 20,000 per consumer.

–Helps with ongoing identity theft issues: Up to seven years of “free assisted identity restoration services”. Again, the existing breach settlement page is light in detail there.

The FTC says that if you were a minor in May 2017 (when Equifax learned of the violation), you are eligible for a full 18 years of free credit monitoring.

How do I enjoy it?

A: You can't yet. The deal has to be approved first. The deal site says to check back later. In addition to periodically checking the breach settlement site, consumers can sign up for the FTC to receive email updates about this agreement.

The settlement site said consumers can also call 1-833-759-2982 for more information. Press # 2 on your phone keypad if you want to skip the 1 minute preamble and get in line directly to talk to a real person.

KrebsOnSecurity called to ask for more details about the “free assisted identity restoration services”, and the caller said he would need some basic information about me to proceed. He said they needed my name, address, and phone number to proceed. I gave him a number and a name, and after checking with someone, he came back and said catering services would be offered by Equifax, but confirmed that affected consumers would still have to apply.

He added that Equifax will soon include a feature that allows visitors to verify that they are eligible, but also confirmed that just checking eligibility will not entitle them to any of the above benefits: consumers will still need to file a claim through the site. 

Big Equity, the Equifax Credit Agency, has agreed to pay at least $ 650 million to settle lawsuits arising from a 2017 breach that allowed intruders to steal personal and financial data from about 148 million Americans. Here's a brief primer that tries to detail what this deal means to you and what it says about the value of your identity.

Q: What happened?

A: If the terms of the agreement are approved by a court, the Federal Trade Commission says Equifax will be required to spend up to $ 425 million to help consumers who can demonstrate that they have been financially harmed by the violation. The company will also provide up to 10 years of free credit monitoring for those who have had their data exposed.

Q: What about the rest of the money in the deal?

A: An undisclosed amount will be paid to pay attorney's fees by the complainants.

Q: $ 650 million sounds like a lot. Is this some kind of record?

A: If not, it's very close. The New York Times reported today that it was considered the largest deal ever paid by a company about a data breach, but that statement does not appear anywhere in its current history.

Q: Wait… 148 million consumers affected… from this $ 425 million pot that is only $ 2.87 per victim, right?

A: This is one way of looking at this. But as always, the devil is in the details. You won't see a penny or any other benefit unless you do something about it, and how much you end up costing the company (within limits) is up to you.

The Times reports that the proposed solution assumes that only about seven million people will sign up for their credit monitoring offers. “If more, Equifax's costs to provide it can increase significantly,” says the story.

Q: Alright. What can I do?

A: You can visit www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com, although none of this is official or offered until a court approves the agreement.

Q: This doesn't look like the Equifax website…

A: good eyes! It is not. It is performed by third parties. But we should probably be grateful for that; Given that Equifax's total trash fire was a public response to the breach, the company was unable to operate (let alone guarantee) a properly functioning site.