Equifax News Update

Equifax News Update

As many as 143 million Americans personal information exposed…

Image by CBS News

The credit reporting agency, Equifax, announced on September 7 that a computer hack had possibly compromised the credit histories of possibly as many as 143 million Americans.

From those customers who enrolled in the offered identity theft protection services, there was concern that an arbitration clause they read would make it difficult to join a class action suit against Equifax at a later date.

On September 10, Equifax issued a new statement further clarifying its stance on the arbitration clause: “To confirm, enrolling in the free credit file monitoring and identity theft protection products that we are offering as part of this cybersecurity incident does not prohibit consumers from taking legal action,” Equifax said.

The company also said that it has now removed the arbitration language from the terms of use on its data breach notification site, equifaxsecurity2017.com. It also said that the terms of use on Equifax’s main site, equifax.com, do not cover the TrustedID Premier Service, which has its own terms of use.

“Again,” Equifax continued, “to be as clear as possible, we will not apply any arbitration clause or class action waiver against consumers for claims related to the free products offered in response to the cybersecurity incident or for claims related to the cybersecurity incident itself.”

For anyone who has or now plans to enroll in the offered identity theft protection services, please be advised that once you enroll and enter your e-mail address, you will be contacted by the TrustedID company directly and not Equifax itself.

And Another Thing…

Please be aware that right after a breach like this, identity thieves take advantage of the panic and begin to misrepresent themselves as part of the solution in order to get even more information from unsuspecting consumers. Already bogus websites have been cloned to look like Equifax with the substitution of just a few words. Be careful.

Work through the equifax.com website, using the links they provide on their pages. If you’re asked to type in a website address, it may not be the right one.

If you are uncertain about the steps you are taking, or you have any questions about this situation, feel free to call your Vermillion Financial Advisor.

We are following the Equifax news, as we’re sure you are, too. We will pass on more information and tips accordingly.

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