Clark Howard gives advice on data breach

Consumer advocate says Equifax has been ‘less than worthless.’

Atlanta-based consumer advocate Clark Howard is mad. Really mad.

Equifax, he said, has been “less than worthless” in its handling of the recent data breach.

“The focus and attention have been so ineffective from them on dealing with people who are reacting and trying to do something about it,” Howard said in an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week.

On Sept. 7, the Atlanta-based credit bureau announced that records from about 143 million consumers were compromised in a security breach that occurred from mid-May through July 2017. But on Sept. 18, media reports uncovered information indicating the company may have known about a breach months earlier than they previously acknowledged. The most recent breach was apparently the third security breach for the company in recent years, but one that could prove most devastating to consumers.

Compromised information included names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and some driver’s license numbers. The thieves also got access to credit card numbers for about 209,000 U.S. consumers and 182,000 dispute documents with personal identifying information.

In the days following the announcement, Equifax was criticized for missteps including the actions of three top-level executives who sold stock — a move that launched an investigation by the Department of Justice. The company also initially charged consumers for services that would help them protect their information and included a since-removed clause in the contract that would have forced those consumers to waive their rights to sue.

Equifax has declined requests for interviews, referring media to press releases. And as the debate intensified, the company blamed its software maker for the breach.

Howard said he was baffled by their assertion.

“Everybody in the industry knows they are a target so that they were using outdated software is mind-boggling,” he said. “These databases have so much to them and so much information available in them that if I am a criminal or criminal ring, I would do everything I could to find my way in and steal all the information I can.”

The three credit bureaus hold deep and wide information on American citizens, he said. For consumers impacted by the breach, having such rich personal data in the hands of thieves could have far-reaching consequences.

“Everybody in the financial industry that depends on the credit reporting industry — now any process they use to verify your identity is suspect. I am hopeful that this unleashes a wave of innovation and that people come up with new and sophisticated ways to verify someone’s identity,” Howard said.

Equifax has provided a web-

site for consumers to determine if their information may have been compromised. The site also give consumers the opportunity to sign up for credit monitoring. But many consumers have either been unable to get reliable information on the site or unable to complete necessary steps given the number of individuals trying to log on to the site.

Howard says consumers should avoid using any of the solutions offered up by Equifax. Instead, he gives consumers a two-step approach to managing the fallout.

First, he said, register at Credit Karma for free alerts that track your credit over time, provide your credit scores and alert you when someone applies for credit in your name, Howard said.

The next step, said Howard, is freezing your credit. “With a credit freeze, even if someone tries to establish credit in your name they can’t,” he said. A freeze means not even you can open credit in your name unless you provide a special pin number.

Currently, freezing your credit will cost about $6 in Georgia ($3 for Transunion and $3 for Experian). Consumers can freeze their credit with Equifax for free.

It may also be wise to freeze the credit of a minor child who doesn’t have an actual credit history as thieves may view them as a clean slate for identity theft.

Howard hopes Congress will eventually waive fees on credit freezes.

Be wary of offers from companies telling you that they will protect your credit if you sign up and pay for a subscription service, he said. You are better off carefully monitoring your accounts regularly than paying a service.

While there is no easy way to know if someone is stealing your identity, consumers can use anecdotal information. You may get a strange piece of mail welcoming you as a new customer. Or maybe you notice that you are getting no mail at all. There is also a chance that you won’t know your information has been used until you get a call from a debt collector.