Equifax Data Breach Worse Than Originally Reported

Equifax just announced today that the hack was worse than earlier reported by 2.5 Million to a total of 145.5 million consumers affected! 
On Monday, the credit-reporting agency announced that cyber security firm Mandiant had completed the forensic portion of its investigation into the breach, in which hackers stole the personal information of millions of consumers. When the breach was announced Sept. 7, Equifax estimated that 143 million consumers were affected by the breach. However, the review determined that about 2.5 million additional consumers were “potentially impacted” – for a total of 145.5 million.

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Is Your Lender Prepared for the Equifax Breach?

Is Your Lender Prepared for the Equifax Data Breach?

The data breach revealed by Equifax last week where hackers stole the personal data of 143 million consumers from the credit reporting agency is one of the largest in history!  For people applying for a mortgage, they could get a shock of their lifetime when their credit reports are pulled. 

“Bar none, this is the worst data breach we’ve ever had,” identity theft expert Rob Douglas told Realtor.com. “This is the one everyone is worried about.”

It has always been a good idea, but it is more important than ever to get prequalified before you start the home buying process.  Borrowers could experience excessive debt or worse – late payments that they were not aware of on their credit report.  Untangling fraud on your credit report is possible, but it is not something to be undertaken when a borrower is in contract.  Our experience is that it takes from 30 to 180 to remove fraud from a credit report – not timeframes that sellers are comfortable waiting for – especially with the uncertainty attached to the problem.

What makes this breach so bad is that typically a hacker will get a small piece of information, such as a Social Security number or another breach where they got someone’s credit card number.  This breach resulted in hackers getting everything – name, social, address, and credit card #’s.  Scary stuff. 

If you have clients or potential clients that are interested in knowing more about their credit, The Easterbrook Team is here to help them.