Page 2 - Identity Theft.pdf
P. 2

At this point, it might be inevitable.                      Equifax will notify you in the mail if

     Some of you will have your identities                       this is the case.
     stolen.
                                                                 But the credit rating bureau won't notify
     Nearly half of Americans had their                          you directly if you're one of the 143
     personal information exposed during a                       million people whose more sensitive
     breach at Equifax, the company                              information was stolen. You must go

     announced last week.                                        online to EquifaxSecurity2017.com to
                                                                 find out.

                                                                 First of all, don't panic. If your
                                                                 information was compromised, it does
                                                                 not mean your identity was stolen. There

                                                                 are some steps you can take right now,
                                                                 like placing a freeze on your credit
                                                                 reports, to help prevent it from
                                                                 happening.

                                                                 And even if everything seems fine now,

                                                                 you should also continue to keep a close
     And it's just the latest hack. Sensitive                    eye on your accounts and credit reports
     data on about 80 million Anthem                             because your identity might not be stolen
     customers was accessed in 2015.                             right away.
     These breaches are some of the worst
     because the information stolen (names,                      Related: 5 things to do right now if
     Social Security numbers, addresses) can                     you're worried about the Equifax hack
     be used by an imposter to open                              If you do find out that someone has
     accounts in your name, steal your tax                       created a new account in your name,
     refund or your Social Security check.                       you'll have to prove that you didn't open
                                                                 the account and you might have to clear
     "This is a goldmine of information for a                    bad debt information from your credit
     thief," said Chi Chi Wu, an attorney at                     report.
     the National Consumer Law Center.
                                                                 It could be a long, messy process.
     When your credit card number is stolen,                     Here's where to start:
     it's easier to fix. You call the credit card
     company to close the card and get a                         r Go to IdentityTheft.gov to file
     new number. In most cases, you won't                             an identity theft report
     be responsible for the charges. Some of
     the victims of the Equifax hack did have                         This is important because it will
      their credit card numbers exposed.                              provide you with a document you'll




     P.G. Better Living
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