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Eqiufax, one of the 3 credit reporting agencies, has been hacked.
That’s a nice bit of irony coming from a company that sells services to protect consumers against identity theft.
As many as 143 million Americans are affected and hundreds of thousands of credit card numbers were exposed.
You can enter your last name and the last 6 digits of your social security number here to see if your information was accessed. It appears that Equifax is letting anyone enroll in a free year of TrustedID Premier, which is Equifax’s own credit monitoring service. I’m sure they would love it if you love the service and decide to pay for it after the year is over…
After you check for your name, the site will give you a date to return and complete the enrollment process. You must enroll by 11/21/17 and the service lasts for one year from when you complete enrollment.
“TrustedID Premier provides copies of your Equifax credit report; the ability to lock your Equifax credit report; 3-Bureau credit monitoring of your Equifax, Experian and TransUnion credit reports; Internet scanning for your Social Security number; and identity theft insurance.”
You should always check your credit card statements to ensure that there are no unauthorized charges. It’s also a good idea to check annualcreditreport.com to ensure that nobody has stolen your identity.
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97 Comments On "Equifax Hacked: Signup For A Year Of Free TrustedID Premier"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
am i just a complete and utter cynic, or is it possible this is just a ruse to get millions of people to signup for a free trial of their security service and then make millions next year, on the 13th month, when folks forget to opt out of the trial?
You don’t need to opt-out. You won’t be charged unless you give them a credit card number to continue.
But yes, they’ve managed to turn their hack into a marketing opportunity. The irony is rich here.
thanks Dan. it’s terrifying how common this is becoming and just how wide the hacks are. Dropbox, Adobe, LinkedIn, the massive Yahoo hack, and now Experian. the security of our largest, most important corporations is shockingly weak.
Equifax, not Experian
After a data breach that impacted a potential 143 million U.S. adults, Equifax created a website that would allow consumers to check if they were affected. Customers who were told their personal information may have been impacted were given the following message: “Click the button below to continue your enrollment in TrustedID Premier.”
There’s one catch: Those who signed up to this TrustedID Premier security monitoring service for a year waive their rights to participate in a class-action lawsuit. Some consumers quickly detected these conditions included in the terms of Equifax’s service.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-some-equifax-customers-have-unwittingly-waived-their-rights-to-a-class-action-lawsuit-2017-09-08
1) Thats a bit slimy on their part, that to protect themselves from lawsuits they throw the affected people under the bus!
2)Why would i ever trust a company that had the biggest and most impact-full (vs. lets say Yahoo that email addresses were stolen, here our social, DOB, address… were all taken) identity breech to help me protect my identity now???
3) Don’t you think that a company that their job is gathering personal info and protecting peoples identity should be forced to close shop for such a mishap? They should loose their licence (or whatever government approval they need) for this mess up??
We need to demand Equifax pay for other companies identity protecting programs!!
BTW Equifax issued a statement saying that the waiver does not apply for this incident
thanks!
On the 13th month, they will receive a registered letter notifying them if they do not extend it forever, for free, they will be 100% responsible for any and all issues plus my expenses without regard to any proof who the information was released.
Why would you opt-out? After 1 year the thieves still have your data. You will either pay Equifax, get a different protection service, or take your chances.
Personally, for the first year, I would go with another service. Why would you trust the mamzerim at Equifax?
That was my first thought too!
Is there anyone who was told their info was not “possibly taken”?
yes. I checked myself and five members of my family. they said that my wife and three of my kids were not compromised, but they said nothing about me and my daughter except to give me the date of the beginning of the enrollment period. Why is it a week from now and not now?
Yes. If not affected, you get message: Based on the information provided, we believe that your personal information was not impacted by this incident.
I was not hacked
Is this something only for adults? Is there a concern for minor children?
“Based on the information provided, we believe that your personal information may have been impacted by this incident.
Click the button below to continue your enrollment in TrustedID Premier.”
Is there anyone who didn’t see this?
Yes: http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=83386.msg1801731;topicseen#new
I didn’t see that prompt. Just a thank you. Come back on 9/12. I think you should check your credit report using the link Dan provided above to see if there’s anything suspicious
Me, I get the enrollment only message
I only saw:
Thank You
Your enrollment date for TrustedID Premier is:
09/11/2017
Please be sure to mark your calendar as you will not receive additional reminders. On or after your enrollment date, please return to faq.trustedidpremier.com and click the link to continue through the enrollment process.
For more information visit the FAQ page.
I got the same
Mine said based on the info I was not affected
Based on the information provided, we believe that your personal information was not impacted by this incident.
Click the button below to continue your enrollment in TrustedID Premier
When you go to the link It doesn’t say if your information was hacked or not.
Same thing happened to me. It just told me my enrollment date.
Thank You
Your enrollment date for TrustedID Premier is:
09/14/2017
Please be sure to mark your calendar as you will not receive additional reminders. On or after your enrollment date, please return to faq.trustedidpremier.com and click the link to continue through the enrollment process.
Does this mean I was hacked?
so what now? what can/should we do?
Someone posted an article about this and what to do. https://t.co/VUlvdRjYZy
Freeze your credit asap
from just equifax? or all 3 credit bureaus?
How does freeze your credit help?
It locks your credit file. Anytime someone tries to open an account in your name – including you – the information will be “frozen” and the account will not be opened.
There may be small fees to initiate and unlock your files.
Not sure if freezing information from one agency is sufficient.
This article may be helpful:
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/08/how-to-protect-yourself-after-the-equifax-data-breach.html?__source=yahoo%7Cfinance%7Cheadline%7Cheadline%7Cstory&par=yahoo&doc=104698347&yptr=yahoo
Best thing to do is freeze your credit. No one will be able to open up a new account under your name unless they also provide the PIN that comes from the credit agencies when you freeze the credit. I’ve never heard of people’s individual PINs getting hacked.
This is also not a hassle when you open up new credit as you can temporarily unfreeze your report for a certain time until they run your credit, then it’s frozen again.
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/06/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-embrace-the-security-freeze/
I too was hacked, & I noticed everyone saying to freeze your credit.. How do I freeze my credit? Any phone number? etc. Thanks.
If I was hacked and received a signup date did I waive my right to a settlement if I didn’t sign up totally yet?
When does it tell you if your info was comprised ?
I entered my last name and last 6 and it enrolled me in their Premier.
I only wanted to see if my info was accessed
It didn’t enroll you, it told you the date when you can return to enroll.
And that means you were hacked.
Any extra advice to those who were? Besides for the obvious
One of my family members SSNs that was hacked was eligible to partial enroll today.
Then I got this message
Thank You
We have successfully received and are processing your information.
Next Step
You will receive an email with a link to finalize your enrollment and activate your product. Please be patient. Due to the high volume of requests, emails may be delayed. If you have not received your email within a few days, please check your spam and junk folders.
Thank you again; we appreciate your patience!
You sure? (i dont mean to second guess you Dan) because i saw someone post above that they got this message “Based on the information provided, we believe that your personal information may have been impacted by this incident.”
Dan I’m not so sure that it’s right what you saying, cuz when I checked earlier my social it said that I wasn’t impacted , And now when I checked again it said it brought me straight to the page where it says my enrollment date without saying if i was impacted or not
that’s because you already started the enrollment process
@dan I just checked the instructions on the website and it didn’t say that you have been hacked if you get a date to come back and enroll it said they will let everyone enroll so where did you see that means your hacked with this thank you and come back message?
eh. some got the message “you may have been impacted” some got “was not impacted” while most got nothing. not convinced that if you didn’t the latter then you were hacked.
just entered dummy information into the sham equifaxsecurity2017.com website. It put a check next to each, the last name and the six digits…
Then it returned that:
Thank You
Your enrollment date for TrustedID Premier is:
09/13/2017
Looks like I was not hacked. Can I still enroll for free?
So even if I never used their service I can be affected cuz they have everyone’s credit records on file?
Only USA, or Canada too?
Equifax also identified unauthorized access to limited personal information for certain UK and Canadian residents. (https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com)
Also this “by agreeing to use this service, the user is waving their rights to bring a class action lawsuit against Equifax”
Not so. The waiver is only for the TrustedID product. In the FAQs, they state, “The arbitration clause and class action wavier included in the TrustedID Premier Terms of Use applies to the free credit file monitoring and identity theft protection products, and not the cybersecurity incident.”
5) Adjusted the TrustedID Premier and Clarified Equifax.com
We’ve added an FAQ to our website to confirm that enrolling in the free credit file monitoring and identity theft protection that we are offering as part of this cybersecurity incident does not waive any rights to take legal action. We removed that language from the Terms of Use on the website, http://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com. The Terms of Use on http://www.equifax.com do not apply to the TrustedID Premier product being offered to consumers as a result of the cybersecurity incident. (https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/)
Can there be a class action lawsuit? Especially when 3 top execs dumped $1.5 million worth of stock when they found out several months ago!!!!
There will be one. Lawyers will make dough. Customers will get garbage.
i entered my last name & social but it’s not allowing me to click on ‘continue’
according to techcrunch (https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/07/equifax-data-breach-help-site-leaves-consumers-with-more-questions-than-answers/) taking advantage of the offer means you are agreeing to their terms of service – which includes waiving any rights to compensation from the hack.
Sure sign up and WAIVE your right to any further legal action later including any potential “class action” lawsuit.
Read the fine print…
Class action for 143 million people?
You’ll be lucky to get 25 cents!
5) Adjusted the TrustedID Premier and Clarified Equifax.com
We’ve added an FAQ to our website to confirm that enrolling in the free credit file monitoring and identity theft protection that we are offering as part of this cybersecurity incident does not waive any rights to take legal action. We removed that language from the Terms of Use on the website, http://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com. The Terms of Use on http://www.equifax.com do not apply to the TrustedID Premier product being offered to consumers as a result of the cybersecurity incident. (https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/)
Who knows if it’s best to enroll or not if we’ve been affected by the hack?
Garbage link. keeps taking me back to last name and social numbers after clicking enroll! waste of time. keeps saying 09/17/2017. strange
Read the message … You have to go back and “continue registration” on the 17th. Then you will get an email to provide you with the link to get the TrustedID product.
Note, by signing up for the “free credit monitoring” you waive the right to participate in any related class action.
I personally would much rather they give me $150 in credit a year to freeze and my reports than some fake credit monitoring.
I typed in asdfqwerty for last name and 123456 for last 6 of social. Told me I was not hacked and was instructed to click the button below to enroll. Even gave me an enrollment date.
It’s with pointing out that if you sign up for this, you forfeit your right to sue in case of a class action lawsuit.
http://www.thelakewoodscoop.com/news/2017/09/143-million-hacked-in-equifax-breach-lakewood-locations-used-as-drop-off-points.html
Makes it sound like link is also a scam
don’t want to create mass hysteria but there is someone on lakewoodscoop claiming that the website set up to check if you were hacked is hosted by a third party with an expired certificate. what does that mean and how do we verify?
I just checked the registration of this website and found the following:
Updated Date: 2017-08-29
Created Date: 2017-08-28
Registrar Expiration Date: 2018-08-28
Looks like Equifax set up this website just before they broke the news.
the equifax links keep running me in circles with no email link ever seen,trying calling is a huge joke,just tells u to call back later and hangs up. what kind of consumer service is this and whay is there no major news coverage.
In addition to this site, Equifax will send direct mail notices to consumers whose credit card numbers or dispute documents with personal identifying information were impacted.
Dan – Before signing up consider the consequences. See: https://www.inc.com/joseph-steinberg/6-unanswered-questions-for-equifax-after-a-massive.html
Can someone please “pin” this to the top. Its kind of important that everyone see it.
i just signed up this the same last six digits for a social security number for 7 different last names one of which was smith, jones, murphy, levine and cohen. for smith the response was “they did believe there may have been an impact”. all other names with the same social we no impact. maybe smith is a glitch. If u want to be extra cautious here u may want to put a credit freeze on your account for now
I also got hacked should I sign for the thing
Personally, I would not have anything to do with Equifax. If you want another credit monitoring service, there are several others.
I’m no expert, but here’s what I plan to do:
1. Get a security freeze for everyone in my family at EACH credit reporting agency.
2. Check all account statements as soon as I get them.
3. Maybe sign up with one of the other credit monitoring services (don’t know if I can do this with a security freeze)
4. If I get a credit monitoring service, sue Equifax for the cost in small claims court.
Good Luck
I just tried. It said I MIGHT have been impacted and offered to sign me up for credit monitoring. when I clicked the link MY McAfee anti- virus warned me it was a dangerous site. PLEASE CHECK IT OUT. I would not not anyone to get messed up.
This whole thing is a scam. I tried putting in a name like Smith and a random 6 digit number and it tells me every time that I ‘Might have been hacked’. This whole thing smells funny.
By signing up, you have to agree not to hold them liable….
1 year of credit monitoring? Is this a joke? The personal information stolen will enable the thieves to steal your identity forever.
I called my congressman’s office and told them that Eqifax should provide the identity-projection service for at least 5 – 10 years.
The congressman’s rep was very receptive since one of her accounts had been hacked.
The point is:
1. Equifax makes millions of dollars by collecting your information without your approval
2. Equifax is responsible for protecting that data
3. Equifax should pay for preventing any damage resulting from not protecting that data – and not just for 1 lousy year. After 1 year, you will pay $120-$240 for that service.
Call your congressman or start paying.
The more I think about this the more P.O.’d I get.
Why should anyone trust Equifax to protect our information – even for free??? And they have the Chutzpah to ask us to give up the right to sue them. (I believe you can opt out of the arbitration clause.)
Equifax should be required to pay for any identity-protection / credit monitoring service we choose to use. They caused the problem.
I will probably sign up with something like LifeLock and tell Eqifax to reimburse me. Of course, they’ll tell me to forget it.. And I have no problem suing them for the measly $120 / year.
My prediction is that they will not want the additional hassle, cost, and bad PR from getting sued by millions of people over a small amount of money.
Question: Does anyone know where a small claims summons can be served on Equifax in NJ?
if you sign up for the check , you sign away your rights to sue Equifax – see the fine print
Dan,
My August credit score dropped about 30 points. Can it be someone else pulled a credit in my name from this hack? How can I check (without signing up for this)?
It is possible it’s just because I got a new cc 2 months ago, but I’m a bit nervous.
Following a complaint by the NY AG, I believe you now do NOT waive your right to sue if you get Equifax’s monitoring service. But why would you trust Equifax?
Equifax officers sold $1.8 million in stock before the hack was announced – but claim they didn’t know about the hack??? HA!!!
Class action suits have been filed – but I’d be surprised if affected consumers get more than a few pennies.
Stay safe and freeze your reports, don’t sign up for any credit card monitoring.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/09/08/your-money/identity-theft/equifaxs-instructions-are-confusing-heres-what-to-do-now.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
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.
Friday the company added an opt-out provision to the arbitration clause, but it will take a bit of work on your part:
IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THE ARBITRATION PROVISION, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO EXCLUDE YOURSELF. Opting out of the arbitration provision will have no adverse effect on your relationship with Equifax or the delivery of Products to You by Equifax. In order to exclude Yourself from the arbitration provision, You must notify Equifax in writing within 30 days of the date that You first accept this Agreement on the Site (for Products purchased from Equifax on the Site). If You purchased Your Product other than on the Site, and thus this Agreement was mailed, emailed or otherwise delivered to You, then You must notify Equifax in writing within 30 days of the date that You receive this Agreement. To be effective, timely written notice of opt out must be delivered to Equifax Consumer Services LLC, Attn.: Arbitration Opt-Out, P.O. Box 105496, Atlanta, GA 30348, and must include Your name, address, and Equifax User ID, as well as a clear statement that You do not wish to resolve disputes with Equifax through arbitration. If You have previously notified Equifax that You wish to opt-out of arbitration, You are not required to do so again. Any opt-out request postmarked after the opt-out deadline or that fails to satisfy the other requirements above will not be valid, and You must pursue your Claim in arbitration or small claims court.
What’s the right move? That depends on how much you trust Equifax. Signing up requires you to give even more of your info away (six digits of your social rather than the common four), and wait a while before you can get access to the credit monitoring services. It’s not exactly the best deal.
If you do skip it (or even if you don’t), you can request a free copy of your credit report each year from all three major reporting agencies. And if you were one of the people affected by the breach and don’t plan on making any purchases anytime soon, it might make sense to proactively put a freeze on your credit until you figure out exactly how big the problem is.
One correction. Freezing your credit file does not prevent you from using any of your existing accounts in any way.
Please tell me exactly how, where to cancel after my year free membership is completed. Thank you
It automatically cancels.
How do I freeze my accounts? Who do I have to notify?
You need to freeze your credit file (if you want to )with each of the 3 credit reporting agencies.
says site is temporarily down