Equifax Hacked: 143 Million possibly affected, are you one of them?

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The data breach at Equifax has many folks up in arms and rightfully so. 143 million adults in the country may have been affected by hackers. What happened?!! Sometime between May and July, Equifax one of the top three credit service providers, had thieves access social security numbers, addresses, birth dates and in some cases, security code questions. What's even more troubling, is the company's response, or lack thereof. They've not been real clear on what they're doing to handle this debacle and aren't doing us any favors by contacting us directly via phone, mail or email if we have in fact been hacked. They are currently directly consumers to a website to identify if their personal information was compromised. You can access the website on Equifax's home site, however, you will be asked additional security questions. If you're not comfortable releasing more personal information, see below.

EQUIFAX CREDIT HACK-WHAT CAN I DO?

  • Pull a credit report for free through Free Annual Credit Report.  This is a free personal credit report that provides detailed information on your personal credit profile and is not an inquiry on your credit report.
  • Contact your credit card company. Most credit card companies typically have a fraud alert service that will email, call or text your regarding any unusual activity. You can view your transaction history and set up alerts for purchases. Inquire with your them on additional safety features to protect your credit.
  • Contact your bank, check your bank statements, and all other personal documents to verify fraud has not occurred on your accounts.

Check out NBS News video on the hack below: