Equifax has launched this site for consumers to can check whether their financial and personal information was compromised, but there’s a catch!
Before giving any information from the company, you have to enter your last name and last six digits of your social security number.
The company said Thursday up to 143 million consumers may have been impacted by this data breach in which credit card and social security numbers were compromised and with addresses and birth dates.
Consumer experts say you should read the “terms and conditions” before using Equifax’s “help” web site.
Why?
A few paragraphs down, you’ll find a “clause” saying that you “the consumer” give up the right to sue Equifax and instead, must settle all disputes through arbitration.
It appears Equifax may be looking to avoid lawsuits in the future related to its data breach.
New York’s Attorney General calls the arbitration clause “unacceptable” and “unenforceable”.
At least one class action lawsuit has been filed against Equifax in the last 24 hours.
Consumer experts encourage consumers to put a temporary freeze on their credit by contacting the three major credit bureaus in-writing. This freeze should not impact your daily activities unless you plan to take out a mortgage, finance a car or open a new credit card account.
