Equifax gets hacked - 143 million credit files - and waits WEEKS to tell us.

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Johann, Sep 8, 2017.

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  1. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

  2. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Well, this is terrible.

    I already have my credit frozen, but if they hacked my pin it can be unfrozen AND there is enough personal information there that they can bypass the use of the pin for the other 2 agencies.

    What the heck do we do now? :sadwavey:
     
  3. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    The article (and others out there) give you some ideas. Equifax has some disturbing "boilerplate" about signing up for some of their own programs that might help - monitoring etc: If you sign up you forfeit your right to participate in class actions. At least one State Attorney General says it's unenforceable and has demanded its removal.

    From that "weasel clause" blurb - and the delay - Equifax appears (to me) to be more interested in covering its own rear end than its customers' butts. Equifax told me some time ago they could no longer find my file or any of my 50 year credit history. I thought then, it could work for me if this hacking-type thing ever happened. So I let it be. I have no debts or open accounts, (other than phone and electricity) and haven't applied for credit in well over 15 years. The only credit card I have these days is a pre-loaded one that doesn't appear in credit bureau records. I use that for (infrequent) internet purchases only and if it gets hacked, they get very little. Whatever (very) few dollars might be there between purchases. No credit.

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 8, 2017
  4. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I do realize, of course, that if my credit union gets hacked... but there are daily limits and I check my account every day etc. etc. And they know me, so...

    I did know a guy once, back in pre-internet days, always wore a dirty old overcoat - even in July. Crazy as a hoot owl and scared his ex-wife would find his money. He lugged his savings - quite a few thousands - around every day in a suitcase. Everywhere he went. Never out of his sight.

    No. Don't want to get like him... :smile:

    J.
     
  5. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I knew another guy -an old landlord, when I was between houses, about 35 years ago. Dead now. Same fear - that his ex-wife would come after his money. I knew her - and I think he was right. He kept his money in salmon-coloured Canadian $1,000 bills - at the very bottom of his well-stocked freezer. We got drinking one night (not unusual back then) and he showed me.

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 9, 2017
  6. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I had a few minutes this afternoon and so I clicked on a link that promised to tell me if my information was a part of the hack. It immediately started to look fishy and put me onto a page that looked like someone was trying to sell me something. I ran out of free time and had to bail out before I could decipher what was happening on that page. Do you have a link that I could use to get that info?
     
  7. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    The article posts a link for this: https://tu9srvbirvvtmjmkd3d3lmvxdwlmyxhzzwn1cml0etiwmtcuy29t.g00.cnet.com/g00/2_d3d3LmNuZXQuY29t_/TU9SRVBIRVVTMjMkaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZXF1aWZheHNlY3VyaXR5MjAxNy5jb20vZW5yb2xsLw%3D%3D_$/$/$

    Apparently, it's not working right now. Getting that info via Equifax is a complex, multi-step deal, takes about a week, says the article. (You also have to accept the boilerplate that takes away class action rights.) The article also says:
    "... we recommend that, for now, anyone with a credit history should assume they were affected by the hack." No good news for ANYONE in this! (other than phishers, that is). I'm not a bit surprised that Equifax is basically trying to sell increased services - monitoring etc. to people affected by this debacle. When the store burns down, declare a fire sale, I guess. :sad:

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 9, 2017
  8. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    TrustedID Premier is from Equifax. From that link, you can check to see if you're potentially affected.

    Equifax has clarified that the waiver from class action lawsuits does not apply in this case.

    The only real recommendations that have been given out by experts are that you should get your credit frozen and you should check all of your accounts frequently for suspicious activity.

    Problem is, as I mentioned earlier, there is a procedure you can follow to unfreeze your credit if you don't have the pin (in fact, I might need to do it myself one day since I can't find the darn paper I wrote the pin on). I fear that it's possible that there is enough information on file for someone to be able to just claim they are me and forgot the pin and then trick the bureaus into changing it.

    The only assurance I have is that identity theft is usually much easier than going through all of that and the scammers might not feel the need to use my info when there are so many other people out there who are less protected.

    Of course, that would only be good for me because it is bad for everyone else and I don't want that either :\
     
  9. Darkwaters

    Darkwaters Member

    I have serious issues with the credit agencies. They collect, aggregate and store all of our information without our consent. Then, POOF, they lose it. What protection do we have from leeches like this? What recourse?
     
  10. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I worked in the credit business for 30 years - and with these agencies daily. I have serious issues, too. Here in Canada, the reporting agencies glommed onto Social Insurance numbers very early in the game and keyed their files to this number - as an identifier and storage/retrieval aid. The Government itself says not to give your S.I.N. to anyone except the government, your bank and your employer - but the credit agencies went right ahead and compiled millions of them.

    What protection - none. They don't need your permission to create a file on you, that can then be hacked / stolen. Recourse - we'll see. Bound to be some lawsuits...

    J.

    PS - Our social insurance number scheme began in the mid-to-late 60s and plastic cards (recently discontinued) were issued. I remember, they used existing Unemployment Insurance numbers for people (anyone working) who had one.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 10, 2017
  11. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    BTW - AFAIK they don't need permission to create the file - but a potential creditor does need your waiver/consent on a credit application, to obtain a report from the reporting agency. It's in the fine print. I haven't applied for credit in years and years, but I believe the Social Insurance Number field on Canadian credit applications now has to be labeled 'optional.' I wouldn't doubt some lenders would look on the omission as a red flag - but I have no proof. I left the game a long time ago.

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 10, 2017
  12. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    The best part of this board is that there are so many smart people from diverse backgrounds of life and training. You can ask a question about virtually anything and get a decent answer (or 12) or at least some very educated guesses. The article below is rather apocalyptic but after so many data breeches you have to wonder if it could be true. So . . . esteemed DI members, pick this apart and tell me if it's hyperbole or just the end of the world as we know it.

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apos-equif-cked-155729690.html?icid=ref_fark&utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark
     
  13. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member


    "Somehow, no one seemed to realize that connecting the Internet to everything was a terrible idea despite also being a great idea."

    Always a bad idea. Great idea? How so?
     
  14. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Good idea because it's a lot easier for the right people to have access to information. Bad idea because it's a lot easier for the wrong people to have access to information. But either way, at this point privacy is definitely dead, I don't see any way of putting that particular toothpaste back in the tube.
     
  15. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  16. jhp

    jhp Member

    Let us make sure we do not create guilt where might be none. There is plenty elsewhere.

    To sell shares executives have to file with regulators one or more documents, way before this even hit.
    A Form 144, Form 3, form 4, Form 13D and so on, and that is only for SEC. NYSE, where EFX is traded, also demands fillings.

    So, most likely the trade was started near 90 days prior to the sale. Could they have known the state of misery their IT security is in? Not if they were in sales or marketing, usually the largest insider holders of most publicly traded company.

    You can search the SEC EDGAR fillings to your heart's content. I made it simple. https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000033185&type=&dateb=&owner=only&count=40

    As far as I can see the last filling for sale was done 8/3/2017.

     
  17. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Before the Internet, they had teletypes in major clients' offices, for reports. Maybe they could go back? No, that's not secure either, these days, I guess.

    J.
     
  18. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    OK. I'm not arguing as you know more than I do, obviously. But, looking at the article, the OPTICS re: the sale were terrible. Plenty of guilt to go around, as you say.

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 15, 2017
  19. jhp

    jhp Member

    The fact they hired, continued to retain unqualified individuals to maintain their IT & security while selling the very thing they are reprehensibly lacking in is, in my opinion, criminal, unethical and immoral.
     
  20. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    And you can bet (I'm pretty sure) that nobody will be going to jail. :sad:
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 19, 2017

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