The phone rings:
“Hello?”
“HI, this is Equifax calling to inform you that your personal information was compromised during the recent data breach…”
“Hello?”
“HI, this is Equifax calling to inform you that your personal information was compromised during the recent data breach…”
Hang up. It’s a scam.
The FTC is already warning that the scams trying to take advantage of consumer’s worries about the recent Equifax data breach have already started.
Equifax has announced expressly that they will not be calling anyone, and won’t be emailing, either; if you get a call from them and you really wonder if it could be for real, ask yourself: does Equifax have the staff to be calling, individually, 143 million people? Then you can hang up.
If it’s a robot calling, please don’t press any buttons, and don’t call back.
Don’t provide any personal information.
If your caller ID displays a number when you receive any of the above-mentioned calls,
(888) 382-1222.
What if your caller ID says it IS Equifax calling? There’s a type of circuit that allows people with advance internet connections which can call via the internet and make your caller ID display any number and name they wish. It will not be Equifax calling.
Additionally, keep in mind that the ONLY people who’ll receive a letter -a printed one- will be the 209,000 people whose credit card information was stolen, plus the 182,000 whose claim data was breached. Nobody else will receive a letter. And definitely not an email. So, if you receive any type of written communication from Equifax about your data being breached, know that it’ll be another attempt at stealing your personal information, your money, or both.
Spear-Phishing
I have to admit that I didn’t even think of this one, it’s devilishly clever. As many consumers
are aware of phishing scams, we are good at protecting ourselves from the attempts -both lame and astute- of stealing our data via fake emails; well, cybercriminals have learnt, too, and the Equifax data breach provided them with exactly the type of info they need to spear-phish, a more advanced type of email data theft.
You might receive an email from your investment firm, your bank or credit union, an email that contains some of your actual persona, real data that will give this communication credibility; it might even have your account number with the institution. It will contain a link or a PDF that you will be asked to open to confirm something. The sophistication of this scam resides in that they are contacting you using real data they bought from your credit report, and are the bait to get you to log in, or to install a keylogging malware bit that will steal your passwords through your keyboard usage.
I encourage you, for a time, to mistrust any type of communication, written or by phone, of any type that you haven’t initiated yourself. And please, if you do get one of these calls or emails, inform the FTC via the email to spam@uce.gov or the phone number I mentioned before.
This whole Equifax data breach business is a sad case, but we need to remember that this type of event isn’t going to stop; quite the opposite, they are now part of our everyday lives. Being online has inherent risks, and we’re each and every one of us responsible to protect our own stuff and those of our loved ones. If there is anything positive to be glimpsed from this mess is that we’re at the credit union, and others who care for the common good, are taking advantage of people’s worries to educate you and other consumers at large, about what you need to do to protect yourselves.
The month of October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. The Credit Union’s
webpage has a whole section specifically dedicated to the subject of Online Security. It’s full of brief articles with specific and clear information and tips on what your online persona is, and how you go about protecting it, your personal data, and that of your family; it’s part of the Stop. Think.Connect. global campaign to protect consumers from cybercrime in the digital era. My favorite article is the one titled Digital Spring Cleaning, but I recommend that you browse the whole list of articles, as there are entries for people of all ages, and for all types of life situations.
What if your caller ID says it IS Equifax calling? There’s a type of circuit that allows people with advance internet connections which can call via the internet and make your caller ID display any number and name they wish. It will not be Equifax calling.
Additionally, keep in mind that the ONLY people who’ll receive a letter -a printed one- will be the 209,000 people whose credit card information was stolen, plus the 182,000 whose claim data was breached. Nobody else will receive a letter. And definitely not an email. So, if you receive any type of written communication from Equifax about your data being breached, know that it’ll be another attempt at stealing your personal information, your money, or both.
Spear-Phishing
I have to admit that I didn’t even think of this one, it’s devilishly clever. As many consumers
You might receive an email from your investment firm, your bank or credit union, an email that contains some of your actual persona, real data that will give this communication credibility; it might even have your account number with the institution. It will contain a link or a PDF that you will be asked to open to confirm something. The sophistication of this scam resides in that they are contacting you using real data they bought from your credit report, and are the bait to get you to log in, or to install a keylogging malware bit that will steal your passwords through your keyboard usage.
I encourage you, for a time, to mistrust any type of communication, written or by phone, of any type that you haven’t initiated yourself. And please, if you do get one of these calls or emails, inform the FTC via the email to spam@uce.gov or the phone number I mentioned before.
This whole Equifax data breach business is a sad case, but we need to remember that this type of event isn’t going to stop; quite the opposite, they are now part of our everyday lives. Being online has inherent risks, and we’re each and every one of us responsible to protect our own stuff and those of our loved ones. If there is anything positive to be glimpsed from this mess is that we’re at the credit union, and others who care for the common good, are taking advantage of people’s worries to educate you and other consumers at large, about what you need to do to protect yourselves.
The month of October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. The Credit Union’s
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