An estimated 143 million people had their information compromised when Equifax was hacked. At Gainplan, we responded quickly with an email outlining how to see if you were affected and some ways to protect yourself. Below are those steps, as well as a few more for your reference. Use this guide to protect your information and mitigate your risks moving forward. Check to see if you were impacted at https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/

Whether or not your data was compromised, Equifax will offer identity theft protection and monitoring for twelve months through its trustedID premier program. Regardless of how you feel about placing additional trust in Equifax, it makes sense to review your credit reports.

annualcreditreport.com offer access to free reports from all three credit bureaus: TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. Really, this should be done at least annually. If you’re not in the habit of checking your credit reports regularly, this is a good time to start. Personally, I use creditkarma.com to continuously monitor my credit. When there are changes, or inquiries, I receive an email alert. Credit Karma does not use all three bureaus, only TransUnion and Equifax.

Some people may want to consider placing a freeze on their credit. Locking your credit outside of Equifax’s site will typically come with a cost. It can also be difficult to unlock your credit. If you make this choice, you should plan to unlock your credit several days prior to applying for a loan or credit card. If you aren’t using Equifax to initiate the freeze, you should contact the bureaus directly:

Equifax — 1-800-349-9960

Experian — 1-888-397-3742

TransUnion — 1-888-909-8872

You can also contact the credit bureaus to have fraud alerts placed on your account. An alert will last for 90 days and can be renewed. You may also want to monitor your family’s information. The chances are smaller, but it is possible that your children’s information was compromised.

Lastly, plan on filing your taxes early. If your information or the information of your dependents was stolen, someone may have filed taxes on their behalf. Filing early will help prevent that, as well as allow you time to dispute the filing if it already occurred.

To read more about the breach itself, visit this site: https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/consumer-notice/

For technical assistance with Equifax’s services and trustedID premier, call 866-447-7559.

If you are a Gainplan client and you have additional questions or need assistance with these items, we’re here to help. Call us 248-385-3737.

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