Over the past few days, I’ve received several e-mails and phone calls from my physician clients asking me what to do about the Equifax data breach.
So, I thought it was important to quickly explain what the Equifax data breach means, and what to do if you think your information might be compromised.
WHAT IS THE EQUIFAX DATA BREACH?
Equifax is one of the three main credit bureaus. This means that they have your name, social security number, birthday, addresses, license number, and more.
Whenever you want to check your credit report, Equifax is one of the places you go to see it. So, needless to say, they have a lot of information about you.
Last week, it was announced that hackers broke into the Equifax database, which affected 143 million Americans.
WHAT SHOULD I DO?
There are a few things you should do if you think your information was compromised.
This includes enrolling in Equifax’s credit monitoring service, getting a copy of your credit report, and freezing your account.
To get full details of each of these next steps as well as links that explain how to accomplish each one, please reach the full blog post on the Physician Wealth Services blog.
OTHER IMPORTANT TIPS
You can keep an eye on your credit report through a free service like Credit Karma. This is what I use personally, and it’s easy because you can dispute items on your credit report right through the Credit Karma website.
Also, don’t forget about your spouse and kids. Sometimes, children’s social security numbers are more vulnerable when there is a major security breach like this one because many people forget to freeze their children’s credit files.
Ultimately, I hope this information helps. To read more details about the breach and find out how you can see if your information was affected, visit the full post HERE.
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