On the Equifax internet site, there is a place to enter your last name and some of you SS #'s. Then they will check an tell you if it is probable that your information has been compromised. I tried the site and sure enough it said there was a good probability my information was some of the stolen/lost stuff.

They offer free monitoring for 2 years to see if any of this info is used to open accounts, on the dark web sites to be sold, etc.

Has anyone signed up for this or looked into this and decided not to?

The other day one of the 'fire' members said the 'Lifelock' saved him, when someone tried to open credit in his name. Lifelock had different plans and they cost $10-$30/mth.

Has anyone compared the Equifax plan to Lifelock?

Any ideas, opinions, or experiences with either will be appreciated.

I would not sign up for Equifax's 2 years of monitoring.

I've been following this from the perspective of the computer industry, and this bunch of incompetent boobs just had the worst security breach in history.

Equifax was told how to patch the security flaw but did NOT do so, leaving the security hole open for 2 months.

I wouldn't trust Equifax any more than I'd trust Hilary Clinton.

Furthermore, the info leaked will be useful for YEARS and YEARS -- the two years promised by Equifax is NOTHING.

The only real alternative is to limit access to checks on your credit which will increase the time for you to get a loan in the future a bit.

If you do a search, you will find most advice in line with what I wrote above. HERE and HERE are just 2 examples.

John

Link to a recent thread on this.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...lion-open-to-identity-theft#Post12269582

Freeze it so no one can open credit in your name. You will can open it temporarily if you want to apply for credit in the future. Equifax is free for a period due to the breach but the other two charge a one time fee of $10. Beats paying lifelock $30 a month to do more or less the same thing.

https://www.freeze.equifax.com/Freeze/jsp/SFF_PersonalIDInfo.jsp

https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html

https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze/place-credit-freeze

If you do freeze your credit, whatever you do don't loose your PINs or else you are for a nightmare getting it unfrozen.

Also, I read somewhere that the website Equifax set up to tell you if you're on the list requires you to agree not to sue them over the breech and instead forces any claim to arbitration. Don't know if that is true or not, just read it somewhere.

Something to be said about trusting the ones who screwed the pooch in the first place.

+1 on all the comments above.

I bit the bullet & froze my credit since I don't need any more for the near future.

Hard to tell where this will go in actuality, but it has the potential to be a very, very serious & troublesome outcome for a lot of people.

MM

I am disappointed that I have not read about any firings of UPPER level digbats with no severance package for their incompetence, gross negligence and failure to act in a reasonable/responsible manner.If enough people suffer because of the breach I think someone (lawyer) needs to go after any and all responsible and pierce the corporate veil due to negligence and any other actionable reasons.
Maybe lifetime support for all those affected rather than the two year offered also

I hate to rain on your parade. However, the information stolen is the same information that is used to freeze/unfreeze credit. Experian allows the PIN to be sent to an email address to unfreeze your PIN:

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/09/experian-site-can-give-anyone-your-credit-freeze-pin/

Me too on freezing my credit. I don't see a need for a loan or credit card for years to come.

So, say I freeze my credit. What is the going to do to my life experience? When do I need it unfrozen?

When OPM was hacked we were given 2 years of monitoring. First step was one was routed to a website where he/she had to enter all of their vitals. OPM obviously had all of that data, so they should have just routed over a couple of hard drives.

This whole debacle is complete BS. The [bleep] up and it's our problem.

I've been half tempted to request a new SS#.

The entire credit monitoring system, is pretty much a corporate ran Big Brother system.

When you give personal information to anyone, or anybody... you have to ask yourself
How does it benefit you, for them to have that information...

and then ask yourself how does it benefit them for them to have that information?

and once you give it out, what control do you have over what they do with that information?
none whatsoever....

They sell it to anyone they want... and then things getting "hacked"....

tell me that they are not making money on that happening in the long run...

Equifux had that security breach opening open for 2 months for a reason... its not incompetent oversight
by upper level management.. it was planned, as despite the initial "cost": it might appear, they are
making more money "defending" you from it...

They just compromised your identity, and then they want you to give them an update in real time
so they can 'secure it'? Yeah, right...

Screw all three of the big three credit monitoring agencies.... they should be legally shut down..
they certainly don't exist for the public's conveniences.

Agreed! Having been in the mortgage industry, I've realized how little anyone really knows how credit works and worse, how it works against you!

You won't notice a thing different until you go to buy something large on credit. Such as a car loan, buy a house, etc.
Wife and I put a freeze on, it may be a small road block in stopping a criminal, but hopefully it's enough to make them look for an easier target.

Very in depth analysis. I have been saying the same thing more or less for years. It is a win-win for them.

Nothing happens with the big three "credit monitoring" companies, without them making
more money off of it...

yet the public buys into it constantly, and accepts everything they are being told.

Check your "credit score".... after you give them up to the minute personal information.

Ever notice how anyone who pays cash for everything in their lives, have a 'bad credit rating'...

you're penalized for not playing well with their system....

The sick irony of this situation is that the very companies who are supposed to be 'credit monitors', who gather and provide information about you and your credit history, are now the very ones carelessly giving up that data to hackers.

Weeks ago, I got a notice from the Colorado Justice Dept. telling me that my personal info had been hacked in-house, and that I should contact one of the big 3 credit monitoring companies to put a fraud alert on my account. Well, I contacted Experian, and did so. Talk about opening the hen house and letting the foxes in.

Several years ago, I signed up for Life Lock. A few months later, one of my credit cards was hacked, with several hundred dollars of charges racked up to my account. I contacted Life Lock, who told me there was nothing they could do for me, they don't do anything to prevent credit card fraud, and for me to contact my CC provider and fix it myself. Thanks a lot, They were immediately cancelled by me.