2 N.Y.ers sue credit company chumps in hack outrage

TWO NEW YORK women “live in constant fear” that they might be victims of identity theft because of Equifax’s massive data breach, according to a new lawsuit.

Linda Tirelli, a consumer lawyer, and Brooke Merino filed a claim against Equifax on Monday, alleging the credit reporting agency “failed to properly safeguard the information.”

The suit was among the more than 30 filed against the company since Sunday by consumers outraged the credit-check company didn’t do more to protect their sensitive information. Tirelli and Merino’s lawyers, of the firm DannLaw, claim their information was compromised in the data attack.

Equifax announced Thursday that the Social Security numbers of some 143 million Americans — about half the U.S. — were hacked from May to July. Eight million people in New York State are reportedly affected.

The company said “criminals” cribbed other personal info such as birth dates, addresses and driver’s license numbers, as well as some 209,000 U.S. consumers’ credit card numbers.

Equifax found out about the cyberheist on July 29, but it didn’t tell customers until last week.

The Manhattan Federal Court suit, which seeks class-action status, maintains Equifax dropped the ball both in protecting consumers and giving them enough notice about the breach — violating state and federal law.

Equifax did not respond to requests for comment.

The company allowed consumers to see whether their data was leaked and offered free enrollment in its credit-monitoring program for one year.

But some of the potential identity theft victims found the third-party online enrollment more worrisome than reassuring.

It requires their full names, addresses, birth dates and Social Security numbers — the very information they’re hoping to protect.

Equifax offered the year of free credit monitoring with its TrustedID product.

One complaint filed in San Jose, Calif., suggested Equifax might do this to lay a “foundation” to pitch costlier services.

Equifax is also accused in another lawsuit of misleading shareholders about its ability to protect consumer data and of inflating its financial statements and share price before the truth became known.

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Friday that his office is investigating the data disaster.

“The Equifax breach has potentially exposed sensitive personal information of nearly everyone with a credit report, and my office intends to get to the bottom of how and why this massive hack occurred,” he said.

Equifax, among the largest credit-monitoring agencies in the country, checks on consumers’ financial data ranging from missed credit card payments to unpaid utility bills.

The Federal Trade Commission has directed concerned consumers to Equifax’s website to determine whether their data might have been compromised.