On September 7, 2017, Equifax Inc., one of the three largest credit reporting agencies, announced that a cybersecurity breach had been made that could impact customers that applied for credit anytime between mid-May through July 2017. After investigation, it was found that 145.5 million records were potentially impacted.
Equifax has posted on their website a form that can be filled out to determine if individual’s records were impacted. The form can be found at https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/am-i-impacted/
Once on the site, follow the listed directions. Citizens of the United States will be offered a free one-year subscription to TrustedID Premier, an Equifax service, if they sign up by November 21, 2017.
The Federal Trade Commission posts a wealth of information about Identity Theft on their Consumer Information pages. The FTC recommends the following: “If you’re concerned about identity theft, those reported mega-data breaches, or someone gaining access to your credit report without your permission, you might consider placing a credit freeze on your report.” To find out how to put a freeze on your credit report, view the FTC article Credit Freeze FAQs.
Because of the possibility that IRS tax returns could be affected, be sure to review the article Data Breach: Tax-Related Information for Taxpayers published by the IRS.