Statement from Attorney General Frosh on Equifax Data Breach

David

Opinions are my own...
PREMO Member
BALTIMORE (September 8, 2017) – Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today issued the following statement regarding the Equifax data breach, affecting approximately 143 million Americans.

"This data breach is one of the most alarming we've seen. The number of Americans impacted is enormous. I am deeply concerned that Equifax seems to be charging victims for services to identify and protect themselves from damages relating to the breach. It would compound the outrage if Equifax was profiting from its failure to maintain safely all of the data in its charge.

"My office has reached out to Equifax and is seeking answers to understand the circumstances that led to the breach. Equifax must disclose the reasons for the apparent delay between the breach and the company's public announcement, what protections the company had in place at the time of the breach, and why it appears to be attempting to profit from its own negligence. We will be closely monitoring the company's response to ensure that Maryland consumers are protected. I urge consumers to take proactive and necessary steps to prevent any misuse of their information, while my office continues to investigate this massive data breach."

BACKGROUND

On September 7, 2017, Equifax publicized that the company experienced a data breach. According to the company, the breach lasted from mid-May through July of 2017. The data breach exposed full names, Social Security Numbers, birth dates, addresses, and driver's license numbers. For another 209,000 consumers, it also included credit card information.

The Equifax data breach puts consumers at risk for new account fraud, since it exposes personal information necessary to open new accounts at any point in the future. This information can be used to take out loans, open new credit accounts and other illegal and potentially damaging actions.

Attorney General Frosh encourages consumers to take the following steps:

-- Check your credit reports from all three of the major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Reports can be obtained for FREE by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com. Unrecognizable accounts or activity could indicate identity theft.

-- Consider placing a credit freeze on your files. A credit freeze makes it harder for someone to open a new account in your name. Keep in mind that credit freezes must be obtained from each of the credit reporting agencies, and cost $5 from each credit agency. A credit freeze won't prevent a thief from making charges to your existing accounts, such as debit and credit cards. Parents or guardians of minor children may also place a credit freeze on behalf of their child. For more information on how to obtain a credit freeze, please visit

http://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/Pages/IdentityTheft/freezing.aspx

-- Monitor your existing credit card and bank accounts closely for changes you do not recognize.

-- Visit http://www.identitytheft.gov/databreach to learn more.

Equifax appears to be offering consumers one year of free credit monitoring. However, Attorney General Frosh is still analyzing the terms attached to that offer, and cannot yet endorse consumers exercising this option. Consumers who go this route should be careful not to accidentally sign up for Equifax's paid service. If you are asked to enter your full Social Security Number, do not proceed. Their free offer only asks for your last name and the last 6 digits of your Social Security Number.

The Office of the Attorney General recommends that consumers review their account statements, online accounts, and credit files regularly for suspicious activity. If consumers feel they have been harmed and want to file a complaint, please call our Identity Theft Unit at1-888-743-0023, or visit our website at www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov.

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GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
I am sure Frosh is evaluating opportunities to drag Equifax into court as well
 

LightRoasted

If I may ...
If I may ...

Statement from Attorney General Frosh on Equifax Data Breach

Yeah right. Coming from the guy who is supposed to be protecting us from this stuff happening in the first place.
 
For weeks, Equifax customer service has been directing victims to a fake phishing site

https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/20/16339612/equifax-tweet-wrong-website-phishing-identity-monitoring

Earlier this month, hackers broke into Equifax's servers and stole 143 million people's personal information, including their Social Security numbers. In response to the attack, Equifax set up a website — www.equifaxsecurity2017.com — for possible victims to verify whether they're affected. Because the process involves sharing sensitive information, consumers have to trust they're entering their data in the right place, which can be tricky because the breach-recovery site itself isn’t part of equifax.com. If users end up on the wrong site, they could end up leaking the data they're already concerned was stolen.

Today, Equifax ended up creating that exact situation on Twitter. In a tweet to a potential victim, the credit bureau linked to securityequifax2017.com, instead of equifaxsecurity2017.com. It was an easy mistake to make, but the result sent the user to a site with no connection to Equifax itself. Equifax deleted the tweet shortly after this article was published, but it remained live for nearly 24 hours.
 
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