Into the Breach: Your Identity After Equifax

The Equifax data breach disclosed in September 2017 exposed the data of over 145 million Americans—almost 60 percent of the adults in the U.S. Considering that 2 in 3 American adults has had their personal information stolen, every single one of us is or knows someone who has been affected by this monumental cyber attack. What makes the Equifax breach even more concerning is that the usual trends of identity theft are not being followed. ​

Typically, it takes many months after a large breach like Equifax before there’s evidence of identity theft. As the public becomes aware of a breach, the company that had the breach will often offer victims free identity monitoring services. Cybercriminals may wait months or even years for the monitoring to expire before using the stolen information. However, in this case, law enforcement agencies around the country are already seeing evidence that stolen personal information from Equifax is being misused. ​

Unfortunately, many consumers affected by the Equifax breach haven’t yet taken steps to stop identity theft. Equifax and research firms are reporting that, despite being aware of the breach and advised to institute credit freezes and/or monitoring, less than 19% of American adults have checked their credit reports or taken any steps to find out if their personal data has been compromised.​

If identity thieves are already hard at work with the Equifax data, which included Social Security numbers, consumers will need to be on high alert for tax fraud. Criminals will file fake tax returns using stolen personal information and collect the refund before the real taxpayer files. The IRS reports that it takes an average of 180 days to resolve tax issues arising from ID theft claims. Given the size of the Equifax breach, there may be a spike in tax fraud this year and longer resolution times, so if you know you’re affected, try to file your tax returns early to head off thieves.​

Regardless of whether or not you’ve seen any adverse impact yet from the Equifax breach, you have a better chance of picking winning lottery numbers than you do of not being affected, either now or in years to come. If you haven’t protected yourself yet, here are two easy steps you can still take to minimize your risk.​

• Obtain a copy of your credit report: AnnualCreditReport.com provides a free, yearly report from all three credit bureaus.
• Carefully monitor your financial statements and review bank and credit card statements for unauthorized activity.

While annual reports are a great way to see the big picture, a once-a-year snapshot may come too late to catch a serious issue. Comprehensive identity protection with monitoring can alert you if problems arise, then quickly resolve issues for you and recover your identity. With the odds stacked against breach victims, protecting yourself is a smart bet.​