Credit monitoring company Equifax has been hit by a high-tech heist that exposed the Social Security numbers and other sensitive information about 143 million Americans. Now the unwitting victims have to worry about the threat of having their identities stolen.
The theft obtained consumers’ names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some cases, driver’s license numbers. The purloined data can be enough for crooks to hijack the identities of people whose credentials were stolen through no fault of their own, potentially wreaking havoc on their lives. Equifax said its core credit-reporting databases don’t appear to have been breached. The hack was discovered July 29th, and they're just notifying people now? And to add insult to injury, three Equifax executives sold $1.8 million worth of shares three days later. Should anyone believe that they had no knowledge of the data breach?
After Equifax Inc. discovered a massive data breach that may have endangered the personal information of up to two-thirds of Americans, but before the company divulged the information, three executives sold their Equifax stock, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Equifax executives sold stock after data breach, before informing public [QUOTE]After Equifax Inc. discovered a massive data breach that may have endangered the personal information of up to two-thirds of Americans, but before the company divulged the information, three executives sold their Equifax stock, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
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I'd call that insider trading
------------------ No news , Is good news, With Garry Ganue
I'd say some of us are screwed regardless of the monitoring.
If an identity thief has all the information indicated about all those folks, we're pretty much screwed. Monitoring is about all you can do. They won't be issuing new SS numbers or driver's licenses, you can't change your birthday or a lot of the other information to prove who you are.
Yep, there's a screwing coming for a bunch of us.
------------------ Ron
Isn't it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture, his mental state but … after a shooting, the problem is the gun.... Open your frigg'n minds, think about all the other tools that can be made into WMDs.
I sincerely hope that life is never discovered on another planet because, sure as hell Progressives and Socialists will want to send them money.
Worried you may be affected by Equifax's massive data breach? The credit bureau has set up a site, equifaxsecurity2017.com, that allows you to check whether your personal information was exposed. But regulators are becoming concerned that the site could pose risks to consumers. As a result, you may want to think twice about using it.
Here's why. The website's terms of service potentially restricts your legal rights.
Sharp-eyed social media users have combed through the data breach site's fine print – and have found what they argue is a red flag. Buried in the terms of service is language that bars those who enroll in the Equifax checker program from participating in any class-action lawsuits that may arise from the incident. Here's the relevant passage of the terms of service: AGREEMENT TO RESOLVE ALL DISPUTES BY BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION. PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE SECTION CAREFULLY BECAUSE IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS BY REQUIRING ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES (EXCEPT AS SET FORTH BELOW) AND A WAIVER OF THE ABILITY TO BRING OR PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION, CLASS ARBITRATION, OR OTHER REPRESENTATIVE ACTION. ARBITRATION PROVIDES A QUICK AND COST EFFECTIVE MECHANISM FOR RESOLVING DISPUTES, BUT YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT IT ALSO LIMITS YOUR RIGHTS TO DISCOVERY AND APPEAL.
This language is commonly known in the industry as an "arbitration clause." In theory, arbitration clauses are meant to streamline the amount of work that's dumped onto the court system. But the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau concluded in the summer that arbitration clauses do more harm to consumers than good – and the agency put in place a rule to ban them.
"In practice, companies use these clauses to bar groups of consumers from joining together to seek justice by vindicating their legal right," Richard Cordray, the CFPB's director, told reporters in July, according to my colleague Jonnelle Marte.
For consumers affected by Equifax's breach, this is a live issue; there is already at least one class-action suit brewing against Equifax. Critics say that arbitration is problematic because it limits consumers' ability to find facts to support their case, a process otherwise known as discovery, to appeal decisions or to present their case before a jury.
------------------ Ron
Isn't it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture, his mental state but … after a shooting, the problem is the gun.... Open your frigg'n minds, think about all the other tools that can be made into WMDs.
I sincerely hope that life is never discovered on another planet because, sure as hell Progressives and Socialists will want to send them money.
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 09-08-2017).]
Yep, my information was compromised. I have a 90 day notice on my credit right now but honestly it won't do much. Now we all just have to be hyper aware.
It's really frustrating that a company that I have never personally dealt with can hold all of this information about me irresponsibly.
Somehow this makes me glad that Equifax has my DOB wrong in their files and refuses to correct it.
In my limited experience, Equifax has long been the worst of the three major credit-reporting agencies to deal with. I will have to say that my FICO NG2 credit score based on Equifax data has been outstanding; whether it's valid or not is now open to question.
[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 09-09-2017).]
Somehow this makes me glad that Equifax has my DOB wrong in their files and refuses to correct it.
In my limited experience, Equifax has long been the worst of the three major credit-reporting agencies to deal with. I will have to say that my FICO NG2 credit score based on Equifax data has been outstanding; whether it's valid or not is now open to question.
Marvin,
Wrong century? As far as I'm concerned, that credit score is equivalent to a person's integrity. If I have it and you need it, I'll make you a loan anytime.
