Mississippi’s involvement in a multistate investigation over the recent Equifax data breach is a step in the right direction to helping our residents understand better how such a significant incident occurred and what steps can be taken in the future to prevent such an error from happening again.
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood announced last week that he had joined 31 attorneys general from across the country in requesting credit reporting firm Equifax disable links for enrollment in fee-based credit-monitoring services in the wake of the firm’s massive data breach, which is said to have impacted 143 million people.
Equifax is offering free credit-monitoring services in response to the breach, and a letter sent to Equifax by this group of attorneys general objects to the inclusion of terms of service that required consumers to waive their rights, the offer of competing fee-based and free credit-monitoring services by Equifax, and Equifax’s charge for a security freeze with other credit-monitoring companies like Experian, TransUnion and Innovis.
In a press release issued by Hood’s office, the attorneys general also said that, although Equifax has agreed to waive credit-freeze fees for those who would otherwise be subject to them, the other two credit bureaus, Experian and Transunion, continue to charge fees for security freezes. The attorneys general said that Equifax should be taking steps to reimburse consumers who incur these fees to completely freeze their credit.
In an additional letter sent to Equifax last week, the attorneys general requested information about the circumstances that led to the breach, the reasons for the months-long delay between the breach and the company’s public disclosure, what protections the company had in place at the time of the breach and how the company intends to protect consumers affected by the breach.
In the wake of the data breach, experts have offered valuable tips for consumers who might have been impacted:
— Report any suspicious activity to your bank or credit card company right away. Any delay in reporting the fraudulent activity could make it harder for you to get that money back.
— Check your credit report periodically and be sure to dispute any information that is not accurate.
— Put a credit freeze on your credit report. A credit freeze restricts access to your credit report, which makes it much more difficult for criminals to open false accounts in your name. However, placing such a freeze should be considered carefully since the lead time needed to unfreeze it may be significant.
— Consider two-factor authentication when using financial services online. For most two-factor authentication, also known as two-step verification, users receive a security code via their phone or mobile device that must be entered in addition to a password.
— Avoid unsolicited emails that seek even more personal information or financial data. Following a large-scale data breach, scammers may attempt to steal a consumer’s identity or access bank accounts by sending out fake notices.
We urge Hood to press forward with this investigation to help Mississippians better understand how and why our most personal of information was left exposed to the possibility of a breach of this magnitude.
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