From CNET: “It’s still early days, so even if your credit report comes back clean, remain vigilant about protecting your credit. One of the most reliable ways to prevent someone from opening credit cards in your name is to place what’s called a “credit freeze.”
“When you freeze your credit, you (or anyone masquerading as you) will be required to unfreeze your account by providing the PIN you got when you froze your credit.
To freeze your credit, contact each of the credit bureaus using these phone numbers:
- Equifax: 1-800-349-9960
- Experian: 1‑888‑397‑3742
- TransUnion: 1-888-909-8872
Ed note: These sites worked for me today quite easily – less than 15 minutes total. There is a phone tree to enter your data, each one a bit different. A Personal Identification Number (PIN) will be provided to you or you generate one. Write the above numbers and your PIN’s down and keep them in a safe spot. They will be needed to unfreeze your account if needed in the future. There are various commercial fraud protection sites and apps but they are likely not to be as secure as freezing your credit information.
“Equifax, one of the three major credit bureaus, lost control of customer data that included Social Security numbers, home addresses, credit card numbers, drivers license numbers and birth dates. The company estimates that the data of 143 million people were exposed, which equals roughly half the US population. That means that the chances you are affected are pretty high.
“Even though Equifax set up a program to help people protect their potentially exposed data, it might not give everyone complete confidence in keeping their identities secure. Here’s why:
“The breach could have started as early as mid-May 2017. That means that the data of 143 million people were exposed for more than three months. It’s unclear what the hackers did with the data during those months.”
“Ed note: You can get a free credit report from each of the below agencies once a year. But it may be your data might be misused in between checks. There are fraud alerts and apps that purport to prevent problems, but the surest way is to prevent the credit agencies from providing your data by freezing them.”