Bronco News & Promotions

The Equifax Data Breach

Cyber criminals recently hacked into a database used by Equifax, one of the three main credit bureaus that tracks information about your credit history. More than 143 million records were compromised. In order to protect yourself from potential fraud from this attack, here are a few things you can do and some things you should keep an eye on:

Initiate a Fraud Alert

If you have not done so already, you can place a “fraud alert” on your credit file. This alert means that you must be contacted and your identity confirmed before a lender can issue a loan or line of credit in your name. You can contact each of the three bureaus individually, but by law if you contact one, that bureau is compelled to notify the other two.

The credit bureaus are:

• TransUnion
• Experian
• Equifax

Freeze your Credit Report

You can also place a security “freeze” on your credit reports, restricting access to only your existing creditors. In Virginia, there is a $10 fee per bureau to do so. You will be given a Personal Identification Number (PIN) by each bureau when you initiate the freeze. You will not be able to lift the freeze without this PIN, so keep it safe.

Here’s how to get started:

• TransUnion
• Experian
• Equifax

Check your Credit Report

You can check your credit reports from each of the three credit bureaus for free every 12 months by visiting annualcreditreport.com. Review your reports to make sure there are no erroneous notations listed.

Be wary of suspicious activity

In the meantime, you’ll also want to watch for suspicious activities when it comes to emails, texts or phone calls that claim there is a problem with a credit card, your credit record or other personal financial information.

Regularly review your credit card transactions and checking and savings accounts to make sure there are no fraudulent charges or suspicious activity.

If you don’t have online banking set up for your checking and savings accounts, we recommend that you do set it up. Online banking access allows you to monitor your accounts any time and from anywhere.

If you don’t have online account access to your credit cards, activate this feature for all of the cards that offer online account management. As with online banking, online account access provides you with the ability to monitor card charges literally 24/7/365.

Get Help

If you believe you have been the victim of identity theft, visit FTC.gov or FBI.gov for information on how to file a complaint.