Make Sure You Are Not Visiting the Equifax Phishing Site
If the Equifax data breach is not serious enough, many consumers complain about the negligence the company has dealt with. For example, the Equifax website is dedicated to this issue: equifaxsecurity2017.com .
As Dell Cameron of Gizmodo points out , this unofficial looking URL can be easily spoofed, and that’s exactly what developer Nick Sweeting did when he created securityequifax2017.com. Sweeting created a fake site to prove how easy it would be to copy the Equifax website for phishing scams and then trick consumers into visiting that site. Check it out:
To prove Sweeting’s point, Equifax actually sent out tweets directing customers to this fake website. So if you’re going to visit the Equifax website for updates, this is a good reminder to make sure you don’t end up on a fake phishing site.
As part of protecting your data that could be stolen, we have proposed blocking your credit reports at every bureau. Here’s where you can sign up for a freeze at each of the three major credit bureaus:
You can also call them:
- Equifax: 1-800-349-9960
- Experian: 1-888-397-3742
- TransUnion: 1-888-909-8872
However, many readers reported that they were unable to register, and as we mentioned, the problem with freezing is that your PIN, the number you need to turn freeze on and off, could be stolen if hackers break into the right storage (this is where this fiasco began). In fact, Brian Krebs points out that it doesn’t even have to be that it is difficult to obtain a PIN:
An attentive reader recently brought my attention to a free online service offered by the Big Three credit bureau Experian, which allows anyone to request a Personal Identification Number (PIN) required to unlock a consumer credit file that was previously frozen at Experian.
The first hurdle to instantly disclosing someone’s frozen PIN is to provide the person’s name, address, date of birth and social security number (all data that has been compromised 100 times, including the recent Equifax h hack ), and that is generally sold in the cybercriminal underground).
All of these issues make it difficult to take these security measures seriously, which doesn’t mean you should forget about them. However, this is a good reminder that no one cares more about your data than you. Be sure to keep track of your credit accounts , credit card accounts , and social security information.