Equifax Breach: 143 Million Social Security Numbers, Birth Dates Potentially Exposed

Yesterday Equifax announced a massive data breach – to the tune of 143 million potentially affected.

Equifax says the breach “primarily includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers. In addition, credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 U.S. consumers, and certain dispute documents with personal identifying information for approximately 182,000 U.S. consumers, were accessed.”

You can visit this website to see if you were affected. Either way, you can enroll in TrustedID Premier to have your credit report monitored including 3-Bureau credit monitoring of Equifax, Experian and TransUnion credit reports; copies of Equifax credit reports; the ability to lock and unlock Equifax credit reports; identity theft insurance; and Internet scanning for Social Security numbers – all compliments of Equifax for one year. However, you won’t be able to enroll in TrustedID Premier instantly. When I went through the process, I was given an enrollment day that was four days later.

Keep in mind that you might not want to enroll in TrustedID Premier as it will waive your right to participate in a class-action lawsuit against Equifax, and there’s already one in the works. Rather, you might consider monitoring your credit report via a free service like Credit Karma or looking into other paid options on your own.

I’m probably going to hold off enrolling for TrustedID Premier for the time being and monitor my credit report on my own through Credit Karma and keep an extra close eye out for any unauthorized transactions on any of my current credit cards.