Your Credit Cards May Have Been Compromised As a Result of the Equifax Hack
It’s hard to imagine the scale of the Equifax data breach – millions of social security numbers were taken – and by now you’ve learned how to track your credit and freeze reports . However, hackers have more than just your personal information. They may also have your credit card numbers.
Consumerist reminds us that 200,000 credit card numbers were taken in the hack:
Krebs on Security received a confidential notice that Visa and MasterCard sent to financial institutions, and this alert is pretty specific. Fraud alerts that are sent to banks and other financial institutions after a payment data leak is usually incomplete and cannot name specific customers, but for the cards that Equifax hackers took, the networks had more detailed information than that. Credit card networks know which customer cards have been compromised and pass this information on to banks. They were also able to confirm to the source that the numbers were taken from Equifax.
As the site points out, it’s easy to overlook this fact when our most personal and sensitive information has been stolen from us, but hackers can also have your credit card numbers and expiration dates, and that information is enough to cause damage.
So, while you protect yourself with credit monitoring, fraud alerts and freezes, be sure to add “Check Credit Card Statements” and watch out for any unauthorized purchases. Of course, this is what you should be doing anyway, but now is the right time to remind you to carefully review your claims and track your expenses.