Credit reporting firm Equifax says data breach could potentially affect 143 million US consumers

This country is degrading and decaying so rapidly, led by stealth corruption in the government at all levels.

 

One curious thing- I use American Express and can check my FICO score as often as I want. For the past year it has been 814. This month it dropped to 805, and this in the absence of any transactions that could effect it.

I'm wondering if the other two credit reporting agencies unilaterally dropped everyone's score due to the breach.
If anyone else obsesses over trivia like this, please confirm or deny.

 

I'm wondering the same. Mine and someone's else's I know dropped about the same time.

 

Ok you need to check into that.
10% of your credit score is based on applications for new credit in the past year.
Each time you apply for credit and a credit check enquiry is made, your score takes a small hit. If a lot of applications are made within a 1 year period, with your score of 814 it could potentially hit your score for up to 81 points.
If you know you haven't applied for any new store cards, loans etc, that 9 point drop could indicate someone else did.
I'm sure there could be other innocent explanations like, your credit balance to income ratio changed but still, better safe than sorry.
If you get a full credit report it should show you all the credit cards etc in your name.

 

Agreed. Koskinen’s term as commissioner ends in November.

 

Equifax Stock Sales Are the Focus of U.S. Criminal Probe

 

FYI:

US Senate votes to undo Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rule that would have banned forced arbitration clauses in financial institution agreements. The CFPB's rule would have applied to Equifax.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/10/24/wall-street-wins-big-as-senate-votes-to-roll-back-regulation-allowing-consumers-to-sue-their-banks/?hpid=hp_rhp-more-top-stories_senatecredit-1055pm:homepage/story

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/...column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

 

There are 2 class action lawsuits filed in Canadian courts against Equifax Canada. It will be dwindled down to one suit. I am not sure if the parent company can insist on the filing be moved to the USA. If so, that will obliterate the suit under the new legislation. It is unclear if the Canadian Government will intervene - to date they have just asked nicely for information from Equifax. They have received nothing. The Canadian Automobile Association say that 10,000 of their customers who signed up for Identity theft protection through Equifax are at risk on top of those already compromised. The unknown number keeps rising.

This is going to be the biggest consumer shaft ever.

 

@emmjay All is not lost.

1) Technically,the current legal landscape is not changed. The CFPB's rule would have imposed a new ban against forced arbitration clauses. It was to go into effect in 2019. So the end result is that nothing changes -- financial companies will remain free to continue to impose forced binding arbitration clauses.

2) Equifax hack victims who had no pre-existing contractual relationship with Equifax have not entered into any agreement to be bound by arbitration so they can sue Equifax and can be members of a class action. (Even those who had, e.g., had checked their credit reports or had used Equifax's credit monitoring, may not have signed away their rights to sue Equifax for the breach -- depends if any waiver they agreed to was limited to actions that directly arose from the service they were using.)

 

But remember you have to prove damages. If you had to spend 1000USD to get you back to where you were before the breach you will receive 1000USD (minus lawyer fees) in compensation. People often think that a Class Action will result in a monetary windfall. This is not the case at all. The best one can expect is to be made whole.

Class Action is not a lottery where you have the winning ticket.

 

@hawki. Tnx for the clarification.

@cruelsister. I am not a fan of class action suits as it is true that the payments spread across so many complainants end up being extremely low or insignificant. On top of that the lawyers grab at least one third of the settlement in fees. However, it does punish the wrong doer financially if the suit is successful. I understand that there are 50 class action lawsuits filed in the USA against Equifax over this breach, so it is going to cause them some grief. No-one is expecting Equifax to suffer criminally, which I think most consumers would prefer over a $20 payout from a class action suit.

 

Emmjay- Sadly the total cost of any Class Action penalty is going to be far less than what the company would have to have paid to remediate the issues prior to the beach (see Home Depot and Target beaches).

This is the problem- the fines will have to be way, way, more extensive to make the corporation care. Otherwise it is business as usual: one chump falls on a sword (with a Golden Parachute) and the rest still collect their bonuses (after all, they DO have to pay the Household staff).
.

 

The corporation don't care, regardless of the fines and why should they? It doesn't matter how many class action lawsuits there are, no one's gonna lose their salary over it, never mind actually get punished.
What WILL happen is, the corporation will factor its fines into the cost of a credit check which will be charged to the credit provider, the credit provider will factor the cost of the credit check into your interest rate.
So, as is always the case with any fines metered out to a corporation. YOU, the consumer, will pay for it hahahaha...
That's all you can do, is laugh.

 

"Equifax data breach: Credit agency says victims can still sue, despite rule change

Congressional decision on class action suits hasn't changed the company's position...

Equifax has denied customers affected by the hack that saw the personal details of millions taken by cyber criminals will be unable to sue the company...

Equifax, however, is standing by earlier statements that customers will be able to file a lawsuit if they wish.

In a statement, the company told IT Pro: 'Enrolling in the free credit file monitoring and identity theft protection products that we are offering as part of this cyber security incident does not prohibit customers from taking legal action. The congressional action overturning the CFPB's rule does not change our position.'..."

http://www.itpro.co.uk/data-leakage...ays-victims-can-still-sue-despite-rule-change

 

"Equifax Was Warned

Last year, a security researcher alerted Equifax that anyone could have stolen the personal data of all Americans. The company failed to heed the warning.

Months before its catastrophic data breach, a security researcher warned Equifax that it was vulnerable to the kind of attack that later compromised the personal data of more than 145 million Americans, Motherboard has learned. Six months after the researcher first notified the company about the vulnerability, Equifax patched it—but only after the massive breach that made headlines had already taken place, according to Equifax's own timeline.

This revelation opens the possibility that more than one group of hackers broke into the company..."

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/...ch-social-security-numbers-researcher-warning

 

"Amazon’s Alexa now knows your credit score...

Consumers can now ask Amazon’s Alexa device for their credit score. But it will cost them $25 a month.

The credit agency Experian EXPN, -0.76% announced this week that Amazon’s AMZN, +0.25% Alexa devices have a new “skill” — telling people their FICO credit score, a version of the score named for the Fair Isaac Corporation. Customers can also use voice commands to ask what behaviors are helping or hurting their score and how much outstanding debt they have..."

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/y...re-on-amazons-alexa-but-should-you-2017-11-01

 

If Amazon can get your credit score so can others on the other hand it is a advantage but my bank offers to can tell you your FICO score and it doesn't cost 25 dollars.

 

Hey, now that raises a good question for me. I can still get my FICO score from my bank after I have frozen all my accounts at all 4 credit agencies. How can my bank, whom I trust, still know my FICO score after all my accounts have been frozen?
Thanks all, Acadia

 

"What is a credit freeze?

A credit freeze limits who can see your credit report information. The goal is to prevent anyone from opening any new accounts. It doesn't damage your credit or stop your credit report from evolving by your own actions.

Your credit information will still be released to your existing creditors and any debt collectors who may come calling...

When your credit is frozen you can continue to operate your financial life just as you typically would. The only notable thing is that you will need to notify the credit bureaus to lift the freeze before you ask a lender to approve you for credit..."

http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/12/pf/what-is-a-credit-freeze/index.html

I guess that because your existing bank account is a part of your existing credit report your bank would have access to your report.

 

Thanks hawki, my wife loves your avatar.
Acadia

 

@Acadia NP

 

When he dresses up...

 

What’s the Difference Between a Fraud Alert, Credit Freeze, & Credit Lock?

 

Equifax has just started sending out letters to the UK and Canada citizens whom they believe had their info compromised. The first letters went out October 13. However, some of the info on file for these people is so outdated that Equifax is having problems verifying a home address.

It will be a matter of time before we know if they are able to contact everybody. Hopefully Equifax will be liable for their negligence if those not contacted fall victim to fraud. A compensation plan has been requested by the UK government, but the other countries have not made any announcements as yet.

Outdated info is also incorrect information, but they still sell it.