Post Equifax Breach; What’s Your Best Options?

We have had a number of clients call us regarding the massive security breach with Equifax.  This latest event has exposed 143 million of Equifax’s customers or 44% of the U.S. population.

With the Equifax incident, clients have asked about the safety of their investment accounts and what they can do to protect themselves. Our independent custodians have been on high alert for identity fraud for a number of years now.  And our firm has also been vigilant by increasing and updating our client verification procedures with our custodians for any sort of money movement requests.  If you have tried to move assets to a third party through our firm, you know that it will require a verbal conversation and even multiple identifying questions being answered by you.  We thank you for your patience in this sometimes frustrating process.  Better to be safe than sorry.

Now to the most asked question, “How do I protect myself going forward post Equifax?”

Equifax is offering free credit monitoring, which we do recommend, but which also won’t actually stop anyone’s identity from getting exploited. Monitoring services may be able to notify you of certain activities but cannot prevent identity theft.

The next step we highly recommend would be to also freeze your credit report.  To freeze your credit at Equifax, you’ll want to go to freeze.equifax.com.   You will also need to do the same thing on the other two credit bureaus, Experian (here) and TransUnion (here).  At times these website have been experiencing temporary technical difficulties lately so you will need to be patient.  There is normally a cost of about $10 to freeze your account but we have been told that Equifax is waving that expense for the next 30 days.

What Freezing Your Credit Information Means

A credit freeze will prevent any other entity — legitimate or otherwise —from checking your credit or opening up a new line of credit.  In order to do so, you would need to first “thaw” your credit report. To thaw it, you would call a phone number (Equifax’s automated freeze lift line is 1-800-685-1111) and give them a PIN that was given to you upon freezing your account.  You would give a date range you wanted the freeze lifted, or the name of the company you’d like to be given access to your report.  Yes, this is a hassle considering that you will need to do this for all three credit agencies.  If you are buying a home and car or looking for store credit offers, these would all require your permission to review your credit.

Both monitoring and freezing still will not prevent thieves from committing fraud with any information they already have on an existing account or opening new accounts with creditors that don’t check with credit bureaus.  This remains the real risk and for this reason you will now have to spend time monitoring your credit personally, which is our most important recommendation.

James LaPiedra, CFP™ a former commander of the New York City Police Department and a senior corporate security manager, reminded me recently that apathy, ignorance and inaction are the top three risks factors to your personal security.  James stresses that self-detection is the most effected deterrent. On average it takes twenty-four days to self-detect fraud, compared to fifty-eight days for external detection services. The difference can be significant.

Here are some of his red flags when monitoring your identity;

• You don’t receive expected bills or other mail.
• You see withdrawals from your bank account that you cannot explain.
• Merchants refuse your checks.
• Debt collectors call about debts you do not recognize.
• Unfamiliar accounts or charges on your credit cards
• Medical providers bill your services you didn’t utilize.
• Your health plan rejects your legitimate medical claim.
• A health plan will not cover you because your medical records show a condition you don’t have.
• The IRS notifies you that more than one tax return have been filed in your name or that your file shows income from an employer that you don’t work for.

As we become so focused on our electronic vulnerabilities, please don’t forget real life day to day mistakes.  Keep your wallet thin.  Never carry blank checks, social security card etc. A good rule of thumb is to have what you need for the day in your wallet, nothing more.

Purchase a safe.  A secured fire proof safe will not only protect against thieves (which can be cleaning services and nannies), but protection during natural disasters.  Have your shedder next to your safe and anything that does not go in the safe gets shredded.  Sign all credit and debit cards.  Your signature is required by contract (read the fine print).  Failing to sign your card could render you liable for any fraudulent charges.

Securing your identity is really up to you.  Make it easier to monitor by reducing credit and debit cards and financial accounts.  Spend time with each statement that arrives.  Review, question and repeat.  This does not stop a year from now.  Unfortunately this practice now must become part of your new routine, like taking your shoes and belt off before boarding a plan.

To check if your identity has been comprised at Equifax visit https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/

If you have not been exposed, there is a very good chance you will be, so please decided what level of monitoring you can do going forward and how you will remind yourself to keep this process going.

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