How To Minimize The Threat Of ID Theft!

A gatekeeper of your credit data let down its guard. Odds are your information is at risk for ID fraud.

- Lisa Gerstner

Data breaches happen so often these days that it’s tempting to shrug your shoulders and hope for the best. But when Equifax announced in early September that it had exposed the names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some cases, driver’s license numbers of consumers— affecting as many as 146 million people in the U.S.—the news ignited an unprecedented outpouring of outrage and prompted investigations by members of Congress, the FBI, the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the attorneys general of many states.

As one of the three big credit agencies, Equifax is a gatekeeper of the sensitive personal data of a huge swath of people. The breach touches almost three-fourths of those who have a credit report on file, according to the National Consumer Law Center. “This is the mother lode of data for identity thieves,” says Chi Chi Wu, staff attorney for the NCLC. The bits of information compromised are the keys crooks need to open new credit and loan accounts, file tax returns, or even apply for jobs or receive medical care. Hackers also accessed the credit card numbers of about 209,000 consumers, as well as “dispute documents” (presumably from those who challenged inaccuracies on their credit reports) containing the personal information of about 182,000 people.

A FUMBLED RESPONSE