Yesterday. on September 7, 2017, Equifax, a credit monitoring agency, announced that the personal information of nearly half of all Americans may have been breached.  According to Equifax, criminals used “a U.S. website application vulnerability” to gain access to files that contained names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and driver’s license numbers. Equifax stated the breach was discovered on July 29, 2017. While the “Consumer Notice” does not disclose the exact date of the breach, the “FAQs for Consumers” page states the breach occurred from mid-May through July 2017.  More information regarding the breach and Equifax’s response can be found at  https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com.

Consumers are encouraged to visit the Equifax website to determine if their information has been impacted by the breach.  Consumers are required to type in their last name and the last six digits of their Social Security Number in order to determine whether their personal information has been impacted. If you’re information has not been impacted, you will see get the following response:

If you’re personal information has been impacted, you will see the following screen:

Equifax if offering credit monitoring to all U.S. consumers, but there are a variety of steps consumers can take to protect themselves. For example:

• Get free credit reports from annualcreditreport.com and review your accounts for any unusual activity or changes.
• Consider placing a credit freeze.
• Consider placing a fraud alert.
• Consider contacting your bank to cancel your cards or open a new bank account