Equifax Data Breach Back In The Spotlight

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — James McCormack has lived in his South Park townhome for 12 years.  He bought it because he loved the proximity to work.

Last month James, a single dad, decided to refinance his mortgage,

so he could lock in a better rate.

And now?

“I’m kind of in a holding pattern,” James says.

Because his bank needs access to his credit information right now, James can’t do the one thing he wants to do, which is protect himself in the wake of the Equifax data breach.

Equifax is a consumer credit reporting agency.  If you’ve ever applied for a home or car loan, or opened a credit card, you were approved based on your credit score from Equifax or one of the two other reporting agencies.

In July, hackers got a hold of Equifax data.  In September Equifax broke the breach news to the 145 million consumers impacted.

HBO’s John Oliver recently devoted a show to it.   According to Oliver, “In any other era, this would have been the biggest story for a month!”

James McCormack has an idea of why it isn’t a bigger story.

“I think a lot of people are still in the dark about it,” he says.

I headed to cyber security expert Theresa Payton.

“North Korea has denied involvement, but its got some of the tell tale signs that it could be them,” Payton explains.

What makes this hack different, Payton tells me, is the type of information the hackers got.  The hackers obtained permanent information that you can’t change about yourself, like your birthplace, your mother’s maiden name, your date of birth, and your social security number.

This breach could impact you for years.

Payton says to do this:

“You wanna permanently freeze your credit reports at all three credit bureaus.”

By now, you’re probably wondering how to find out if the hackers got your information.  Equifax created a fix site for consumers, but a phony fix site popped up, further damaging consumer confidence.

HBO’s John Oliver found a bit of irony in the fake site.

“Exactly, someone created a fake site, and if you’re wondering who would be dumb enough to fall for that? Equifax, that’s who.  Because they tweeted links to the fake site at least eight times,” Oliver joked.

So if you’re understandably cyber wary, Payton has an old school suggestion for contacting the company.

“My recommendation would be try calling in non-peak hours, or try faxing or mailing them a letter.  A return receipt certified mail, to get your credit report frozen.  And again, it’s not just Equifax, you wanna do it at all three credit bureaus.”

I wanted to know what lawmakers think about this massive consumer data breach, so I contacted U.S. Senator Thom Tillis, a republican from North Carolina.

He calls the Equifax breach “completely unacceptable” and tells me in part, “Congress must look for ways to work with private entities to ensure that sensitive information is secure.

I also asked the U.S. Social Security Administration what it’s doing to protect you.  They tell me they offer a “block electronic access” feature that makes it so no one, including you, can see or change your personal information on their website or their automated phone service.

So what’s next for James in SouthPark?

The refinance on his townhome should close soon, maybe even next week.  Once that happens, he says he’ll do the one thing he’s wanted to do, which is freeze his credit.

“This is something that could potentially affect me long term.”