After announcing a “security incident” that impacted 143 million customers Thursday, Equifax is offering customers a year of free credit monitoring by way of an apology. The credit monitoring may seem like a good deal (free is free, right?), but if you were one of the customers affected by the security breach, you might want to think twice before signing up. In the fine print, Equifax notes that by signing up for the service, you’re agreeing to not to sue them for the breach. If your info was stolen, you might be headed toward a huge personal identity nightmare. Giving up your right to sue for 12 months of complimentary credit monitoring is likely not the best idea. 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. There’s actually already a class action lawsuit filed against Equifax for the breach, so you’d also be giving up your right to participate in that, as well as any other lawsuits.
Now. New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, whose office is investigating the data breach, said on Twitter that Equifax posted the statement “after conversations [with his] office.”
Wayne, my wife and I were both affected by the security breach, she went online to check it out and they offered us the credit monitoring, would you still say not to take it? We didn't sign up for it because we were looking to see what others were doing, and what others might suggest since we don't know much about it. Thanks
If you keep close tabs on your credit it is not that hard to monitor it. You get a free credit report through the government once a year (once every two years maybe?), and paying for a credit report now and then is not terribly expensive.
They have "corrected" the statement to allow for litigation even if you sign up. So the only real issue would be remembering to cancel that monitoring when the free year expires. That being said, if you have a Discover card, for example, you can get your credit score each month for free. Several credit card companies will also provide that service for free. My wife and I were also potentially at risk from Equifax but will not sign up for their monitoring. I look at it that if they lost the data so easily, took so long to inform anyone, and seem to be somewhat challenged ethically I do not want to trust them to adequately monitor my credit. I use our Discover cards and get a copy of our credit report at the end of every year unless I see a significant change in the credit score and then I get it immediately. The good thing is that Equifax should cover any and all impacts from their mistake although it will be a headache for anyone involved. If you think you can remember to cancel or do not mind paying for an extension the Equifax monitoring will not harm anything, but I would not let that be the only thing I use if I were you.
I just received this from my financial adviser and my wife's adviser sent her the same one so it seems to be the general consensus of at least two agencies. Greetings, The news this morning is all about Irma and the Equifax data breach. As your financial planner, and as a credit card holder, I’m mulling the latter – it could be the financial equivalent of a killer hurricane! First I will say, don’t brush this data breach off. We ALL have credit information maintained by Equifax. Breaching a credit bureau is a much more malicious action than breaching Blue Cross or RG&E! Take this seriously. *****I recommend you ASSUME your data at Equifax has been compromised.***** Here are the measures you can take to batten down the access hatches on your credit record: 1. Put a freeze on your credit record. Visit https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs to learn more and how to take this step. 2. Put a fraud alert on your credit record. The Link in #1 tells how to do this also. 3. Immediately obtain a credit report from one of the three credit bureaus (Trans Union, Experian, Equifax) and review it carefully to see if you have already fallen victim to abuse or ID theft. 4. Resolve to obtain another credit report from a different bureau in 2 months and again in January 2018 (from the third bureau). 5. Accept any offer from Equifax to provide a year or two of credit monitoring. 6. Place alerts on your credit card accounts so that you are getting routine email updates about CC balances and transactions. Read the updates as they come in and follow up if something doesn’t seem quite right. (This can be done by logging into your CC online account.) 7. Feel free to share this email with your family and friends. My take is that people in Houston and Florida are especially vulnerable right now because fraudsters may target them as being “easy prey” right now. As a credit card holder, I will be following up on all these over this coming weekend! Go forth and batten your financial hatches!
Not true. There is zero cost for NC residents to freeze your credit. For years we have used this and suspend for a few days or a week when we purchase a car, etc. No charge to suspend in NC. http://www.ncdoj.gov/freefreeze
