How to tell if you got Caught In Equifax's ID Theft

[msomnipotent]

I heard on CNBC that the site you use to check if you are a victim may also be impacted, so if they didn't get it then, they probably got it now. I'm really so PO'd at them. I have been getting emails from places like Kohls and Macys stating that my accounts have been locked because I tried to log in too many times, and I didn't log in. I went crazy trying to figure out what was happening and went as far as buying a new computer a few days ago when I got the most recent email. I'm sure Equifax has something to do with it. And I'm willing to bet that my husband's identity getting stolen in May can be traced back to this. If I lose out on a house because things get tied up because of this, I'm going to be on the news.

When someone decides that they are going to make their living by collecting my personal information, they better be held responsible when they don't protect it. And to think that they were using 12 year old operating systems! I didn't even think that Sun was still around!

[rennigade]

Checking to see if you were impacted does not opt you out of the class action.

Once you check it states when you can sign up...which is a couple days...I forget the exact date.

I was impacted along with my wife and half of rest of the country. Everyones info is floating around somewhere. You have to enter personal info for everything, loans, credit cards, credit checks, etc etc. This isnt anything unique...we'll just be seeing more of this in the future.

I didnt lose any sleep over it to say the least.

[Nutria]

I have been getting emails from places like Kohls and Macys stating that my accounts have been locked because I tried to log in too many times, and I didn't log in. I went crazy trying to figure out what was happening and went as far as buying a new computer a few days ago

Let me get this straight: you bought a new computer because someone else was logging into your store card accounts?

[disneysteve]

Probably wouldnt be a talking point for detractors if her department's IT security lapses didn't just lead to the theft of the id of "everyone with a credit history" as Nutria put it.

The fact that the head doesn't even have a bachelor's in something IT related also brings questions of competency into my mind as well. Say a head heart surgeon screws up and a patient dies. Then you discover that that surgeon doesn't even have a 2-4 year degree in medicine!

Based on that CV, she has been working in IT for at least 15 years. Why would you question her competency based on her college major?

The surgeon analogy is flawed. Becoming a surgeon REQUIRES a medical degree and a surgical residency. An IT job does NOT require an IT degree.

I don't want to derail this thread but we've discussed before that only 27% of people work in the field of their college major. Does that mean that 73% of workers are incompetent?

[msomnipotent]

Let me get this straight: you bought a new computer because someone else was logging into your store card accounts?

No. I bought a new computer because we thought the old one was infected even though we couldn't find a virus. It happened before with some other virus that Norton didn't detect a few years ago.

[Nutria]

No. I bought a new computer because we thought the old one was infected even though we couldn't find a virus. It happened before with some other virus that Norton didn't detect a few years ago.

You can get the OS reinstalled to a virgin state.

[Thrif-t]

This has kind of gotten pushed to the back burner with me because I've been so engrossed with Hurricane Irma and worrying about family & friends in FL. BUT I read that the site where you check if you are impacted wasn't working. I know one time it said I was and another I wasn't. Not sure if it is fixed or not, that's where Irma distracted me.

But one way to avoid getting all worried about these hacks is to freeze your credit https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/article...it-freeze-faqs. I did for me and DH years ago. I also did my DS16 when his info was compromised from the Anthem hack. Tomorrow I'm going to help my DD21 & DD19 start the process to freeze their credit.

If we want to get loans or new credit cards, we'll unfreeze to do so. Might be a hassle for my kids but I guess it will just be a way of life for them.

[Nutria]

But one way to avoid getting all worried about these hacks is to freeze your credit https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/article...it-freeze-faqs. I did for me and DH years ago. I also did my DS16 when his info was compromised from the Anthem hack. Tomorrow I'm going to help my DD21 & DD19 start the process to freeze their credit.

If we want to get loans or new credit cards, we'll unfreeze to do so. Might be a hassle for my kids but I guess it will just be a way of life for them.

Of course, if someone has *all* your vitals, what's to stop a Bad Guy from impersonating you to unfreeze your credit?

[Thrif-t]

Of course, if someone has *all* your vitals, what's to stop a Bad Guy from impersonating you to unfreeze your credit?

Well thanks Nutria for giving me something to worry about. I hope they can't get my password that you need to unfreeze me! But I still order my credit reports, one every 4 mos from the 3 bureaus to monitor things.

[~bs]

Based on that CV, she has been working in IT for at least 15 years. Why would you question her competency based on her college major?

The surgeon analogy is flawed. Becoming a surgeon REQUIRES a medical degree and a surgical residency. An IT job does NOT require an IT degree.

I don't want to derail this thread but we've discussed before that only 27% of people work in the field of their college major. Does that mean that 73% of workers are incompetent?

In a professional field, it is my opinion that the person should have a formal education and the appropriate credentials if they're in a position to make important professional or management level decisions, especially if it impacts the wellbeing of the general public.. If the person is an intern or does entry level work only, then the education is not necessary. So as long as the 73% of people aren't doing the sort of work I just explained, and I hazard a guess that in general they don't, it is not an issue.

In my profession, and yours I'd imagine, it is not really possible to rise beyond a certain level without the proper experience, education, and credentials. The restrictions are both within the profession, encouraging individuals to get the required education, and by laws in place to prevent unqualified people from attaining those positions. There is good reason for this.

[disneysteve]

In a professional field, it is my opinion that the person should have a formal education and the appropriate credentials if they're in a position to make important professional or management level decisions

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. In a "professional" field, sure. That's why we have medical school, dental school, law school, etc. In a computer job, not at all. Maybe it's a function of my age but when I was in school, the computer field was still in its infancy. I have many peers today who have jobs in the computer fields including some in upper management or even running their own companies. They don't have degrees in those fields because those degree programs didn't even exist when they went to school in the late 70s and early 80s.

What degrees did Bill Gates and Steve Jobs have again? Oh yeah, they both dropped out of college and never earned degrees. I guess that makes them incompetent.

[Nutria]

Apparently, https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/ is bogus, and we gave someone our last names and most of SSNs.

[Thrif-t]

Update, we called today and put a freeze on our dd's credit, we weren't charged a fee to do this with Equifax, I guess cause of the hack? But we did have to pay the $5 fee our state charges for the other two.

And I tried all weekend on my work computer and home computer and I couldn't get a credit report from annualcreditreport.com for either girls online. I ended up calling from home and ordering them. Not sure if anyone else has tried to pull reports on line and been unsuccessful?

[Sam1000]

The Equifax data breach has impacted 143,000,000 people from May 13, 2017 - July 30, 2017.

Learn how to protect all your financial data. In addition provided is a direct link to the place on the Equifax site explaining how this breach will impact consumers and the steps Equifax is taking in damage control.

[GrimJack]

^


Probably wouldnt be a talking point for detractors if her department's IT security lapses didn't just lead to the theft of the id of "everyone with a credit history" as Nutria put it.

The fact that the head doesn't even have a bachelor's in something IT related also brings questions of competency into my mind as well. Say a head heart surgeon screws up and a patient dies. Then you discover that that surgeon doesn't even have a 2-4 year degree in medicine! Instead, he/she has a degree in english and was elevated to their position by learning "on the job" and rubbing shoulders with the right people.

Sorry, no correlation between heart surgeon and IT manager; many people worked their way to IT by getting a job with a company and migrating to IT. There is a correlation between music and mathematics but that is a digression.

But, yeah, it certainly looks bad on the surface; would need to see her work history.