Equifax; personal data breach

P933alilli · 12 April 2018 at 2:09PM

I had a letter from Equifax in January to say my personal data had been accessed; my name, D.O.B and landline! And that I may be at increased risk of text & cold calling. It was a hack on Equifax from may, 2017. They have given a 5 point list of ways to help and a complaints procedure if I wish. I'm very careful over the phone, I have caller alert and know when not even to pick the phone up. I don't click on suspicious links, give passwords away etc. Do I need to do anything?

[Deleted User] · 12 April 2018 at 2:57PM

Change your name, date of birth and landline number.

In all seriousness no.

They should offer you a free subscription to their fraud alert service

Bonsai60 · 16 April 2018 at 10:32PM

I too have been affected by this hack. I was notified in March 2018. I have been offered & accepted 2 years free Cifas registration & 2 years free monitoring by Equifax. However I don!!!8217;t think this is sufficent compensation for the distress and worry it has caused me.

[Deleted User] · 16 April 2018 at 11:21PM

It’s more than enough compensation since you've suffered no finncial loss or hardship as a result

Dobbibill · 18 April 2018 at 7:54AM

Be vigilant (sounds like you are already) but there is also a scam doing the rounds where someone rings you about an online delivery you placed the day/night before. Ensure you don't give away your address accidently - so many people place online orders, it's an easy one to fall for.
Your address coupled with the info above would make you an easier target.
Ensure if you have social media that it is locked down tight with no personal details available for public view.
As said above, accept any services they offer free as part of this to keep a close eye on things.

P933alilli · 22 April 2018 at 1:20PM

Just been applying for an Equifax account online because their telephone service is horrendous; the line is full of static background noise and their use of foreign staff make them difficult to understand. Then I had to upload two forms of ID to their website and I can now no longer log on again for the third time because its either forgotten my password or done deliberately for extra security?

Col_Jessop · 22 May 2018 at 2:42PM

Be very wary of the Equifax offer. Firstly, the helpline is a third party contact centre company based in the Phillipines. Your rights were already eradicated by Equifax holding your data in the USA under the ownership of a USA based data controller.
Cifas registration can also leave you at risk. There is a loophole that will aloow the data criminals that now have your personal information to access CRAs and amend the settings.
There were three data breaches at Equifax last year. To date there has been no assurances from the FCA or the ICO in relation to the action they have taken. The FCA provides the license for Equifax to operate in the UK. Why was their license not revoked or at least suspended whilst the still ongoing investigations are taking place.
The ICO / DPA / GDPR provides a get out of jail free card for the CRAs and many other organisations. Equifax for example do not require any permissions to hold our data. The get out of jail free card applied is that they can capture, process and hold our personal data without our consent so long as it is for legitimate purposes. The ICO has no jurisdiction on Equifax as the data controller was in the USA. Basically Equifax could have been holding your personal data in a skip outside or in the canteen of the criminal hackers building and there would be no recourse for the victims in the UK. A very different story in the USA.
The FCA have been silent over the situation with Equifax. Over 15M people's personal data stolen and being utilised by criminals. And yet Equifax are still unchallenged on how or why they hold our data. Even the banks and utility companies are not allowed to challenge Equifax and its security procedures as they have no legal right to challenge this. They are effectively forced to use CRA services without really knowing what happens to our data once it is passed to them.
The Equifax data breaches have demonstrated that the FCA is not protecting UK citizens. We are left wide open to criminal behaviour. If we want financial services / utilities services we need to pass more information to Equifax. They have even used the data breach to capture even more information from the victims, which they also utilise for marketing purposes.

Equifax; personal data breach

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