MSE News: Got an Equifax letter saying you were hacked? The helpline's struggling...

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Comments

  • winplease
    winplease Posts: 71 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post
    My letter arrived today. Never had dealings with company and did not wish to simply use 'phone numbers given in a letter 'out of the blue'. Came to MSE to check. Note that MSE still suggests we can credit check ourselves with this company. I shalln't be taking up its' offers but wonder if I could charge it the CIFAS fee.
  • brianben
    brianben Posts: 15 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Had the letter today.
    I have never given Equifax any data.
    How did they get my data?
    There is no way I will give these morons any data that they can lose again!!
  • badmemory
    badmemory Posts: 7,742 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    brianben wrote: »
    Had the letter today.
    I have never given Equifax any data.
    How did they get my data?
    There is no way I will give these morons any data that they can lose again!!

    This is the whole problem really - that you do not have a choice about using them, unless you can use a bank that doesn't use them & none of your other suppliers ever use them either - nigh on impossible!
  • badmemory
    badmemory Posts: 7,742 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    kitla wrote: »
    I've had a spate of fake emails this year supposedly from different banks I've never dealt with. When I received the letter from Equifax I thought that was probably why, but Equifax say they lost my phone number not my email address, so the emails are from somewhere else. At first I was unsure whether to sign up to Equifax for a year's free services, then I read this, which I thought so outrageous that I want nothing to do with this company.
    https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/11/03/equifax_share_trade_investigation/

    How that can actually be true is pretty much incredible. My suggestion would be that is time for someone to investigate the investigators. Or alternatively look for a brain cell! You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to be seriously concerned about that decision.
  • HUMBUG
    HUMBUG Posts: 346 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    I hope Equifax gets sued and are forced to compensate all the customers affected by their ineptitude. As a brand, they are now dead in the water and its only a matter of time before they go bust. So I can imagine things like security, customer service, etc getting even worse as they lose business to their competitors. I might opt for the CIFAS Protection Registration service but its only for 1 year and imho, another little business deal where customers might renew and generate monies for CIFAS (while giving EQUIFAX a little commission). So it looks like they've used a disaster as an opportunity to create extra business between themselves and other credit/id protection companies. I think I will give them all a wide berth.
  • Doc_N
    Doc_N Posts: 8,267 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post Photogenic First Anniversary
    I may take the CIFAS route - it's probably the safest option.

    I do know from past experience, though, that it's a confounded nuisance in practice because it adds a couple of days to anything requiring a credit reference - and these days that's a lot of things. Not just bank accounts etc but anything at all which involves, or might involve, something which you're not paying in advance for.
  • redfox
    redfox Posts: 15,338 Forumite
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    Doc_N wrote: »
    Not just bank accounts etc but anything at all which involves, or might involve, something which you're not paying in advance for.

    but they seem to do credit searches when you just want an insurance quote for something which is invariably paid upfront. Multiple of those on my credit file from recently getting quotes for car and home insurance. I personally can't see the reason why they need to do that when you aren't, at that stage, and indeed may never be buying it from them.

    Or are these not what you mean?
  • Doc_N
    Doc_N Posts: 8,267 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post Photogenic First Anniversary
    redfox wrote: »
    but they seem to do credit searches when you just want an insurance quote for something which is invariably paid upfront. Multiple of those on my credit file from recently getting quotes for car and home insurance. I personally can't see the reason why they need to do that when you aren't, at that stage, and indeed may never be buying it from them.

    Or are these not what you mean?

    I agree entirely. Searches seem to be done for all sorts of reasons, even if you're not actually getting credit. CIFAS, effective though it is, slows the process and last time I used it I found it a real pain, delaying all sorts of things by up to 4 days. Sounds minor, but it wasn't.
  • tali
    tali Posts: 709 Forumite
    One of my dilemnas is by signing up to Equifax's Monitoring Services is that i have to give even more of my info to them.Don't know whether to stick or twist.
    The free protection is tempting -only if i assume i have far better protection systems from Equifax now....
  • Doc_N
    Doc_N Posts: 8,267 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post Photogenic First Anniversary
    tali wrote: »
    One of my dilemnas is by signing up to Equifax's Monitoring Services is that i have to give even more of my info to them.Don't know whether to stick or twist.
    The free protection is tempting -only if i assume i have far better protection systems from Equifax now....

    I think it's actually quite difficult to give Equifax any more information than they already hold on an individual - they have details of pretty much every financial link you have already.
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