AG Shapiro:“Equifax’s decision to end registration for free credit monitoring on Jan. 31 is yet another example of its disappointing decisions affecting consumers”
HARRISBURG — In the wake of one of the largest data breaches in history impacting more than 145 million Americans and 5.5 million Pennsylvanians, Attorney General Josh Shapiro is alerting consumers to register for free credit monitoring and identity theft insurance with Equifax by their deadline of January 31.
“Equifax’s decision to end registration for free credit monitoring on Jan. 31 is yet another example of its disappointing decisions affecting consumers,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. “While I encourage Equifax to extend this arbitrary deadline, consumers should register for free credit monitoring and identity theft insurance now — before tomorrow’s deadline.”
Consumers can sign up for free credit monitoring and identity theft insurance before January 31 by visiting https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/.
Equifax disclosed the massive data breach on September 7, 2017. The next day, Attorney General Shapiro directed his Bureau of Consumer Protection to open an investigation into the Equifax breach. That investigation now includes 48 Attorneys General and is active and ongoing.
“One of Equifax’s main jobs was to safeguard consumer data and protect our most sensitive and private financial information,” Attorney General Shapiro said. “They completely failed to do that. As Attorney General I will not stand for it, and we’re going to hold them accountable for their misconduct.”
Equifax said it would continue to offer free credit freezes, typically a $10 expense, to consumers through June 30, 2018, but did not commit to reimbursing consumers for freezing credit through the two other credit bureaus, Experian and Transunion. The Attorneys General have urged Equifax to reimburse consumers for these costs.
If you’re a Pennsylvanian and believe you have been impacted by the breach, contact the Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection at 800-441-2555 or scam@attorneygeneral.gov.
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