Everybody's got Equifax on the brain
My apologies to anyone to whom I have not responded. My email and voicemail have been inundated, thanks to the Equifax debacle. I will, within the next couple of days, clear all the voicemails and emails sent to me.
EQUIFAX: There are many, many stories out about Equifax and how consumers can protect themselves from fraud and identity theft. My suggestions are as follows:
- Keep a close eye on your credit card and checking account statements. Notify your bank or credit card company immediately if you notice anything out of the ordinary.
- If you can afford it, sign up for and use a service like Lifelock. These services are not perfect, but you stand a much better chance of stopping fraud or identity theft than without the service.
- If you can’t afford to subscribe to a service like Lifelock, use the website that Equifax has made available. It is: www.equifaxsecurity2017.com or contact its call center at (866) 447-7559.
This breach of security shouldn’t have happened. The fact that it did should cause some corporate heads to roll.
In addition, major news sources have reported a number of top executives at Equifax dumped large blocks of Equifax stock weeks before the security breach became public. It is also alleged the PR and marketing flaks at Equifax are attempting to benefit from this catastrophe. They may be trying to hook consumers into agreements not to sue. They may also be trying to get consumers to subscribe to their credit reporting service after the first year by automatically renewing the service without further consent of the customer. Be careful!
My Recommendation: Sign up for the free one-year subscription. Just remember to mark on your calendar, a year from now, to cancel the service or at least be aware of any auto-renew clause.
As far as giving up your right to sue — unless you can prove damages that might make it worthwhile to sue AND you have thousands of dollars and a team of attorneys on retainer, forget it. Equifax, like most mega corporations, has buildings full of attorneys and virtually unlimited resources to devote to fighting any lawsuits. The sad truth is in most class-action lawsuits, no matter how large, the only ones who really benefit are the attorneys. The customers (plaintiffs), even if they win, are only likely to get a coupon for a small percent discount on future services, or a small check, or a coupon for a cheeseburger. Law firms in an action as large as this one stand to make tens of millions of dollars.
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NW PONY EXPRESS UPDATE: This matter is really starting to smell bad. The attorney allegedly representing the company and the owner(s) keeps ducking calls and telling consumers with guns left on consignment that they “may” get pennies on the dollar in a possible bankruptcy. The Cd’A Police Department won’t take reports on the missing guns. The problem is, if you try to file a claim with your insurance company, the first question they ask is: “Do you have a copy of the police report?”
Thousands of dollars worth of guns are involved. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but somebody needs to step up and resolve this matter. We had a similar “consignment” issue with a local well-known numismatic (read “coin”) dealer. After much “monkey business” (it sounds better when a lawyer says it in Latin), and some pretty hefty losses to consumers, the matter was settled. Let’s learn from our experience and not go there again.
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MY RANT: Not a lot to do with consumers, but an important item to readers of The Press: Concerning our new traffic circles, or as they’re known in Europe, roundabouts. First Rule — vehicles in the circle have the right-of-way. Traffic wanting to enter the circle MUST yield to the vehicle already in the circle. I’ve almost been creamed on a few occasions while on the new circle at Seltice and Atlas. Remember: if you go slow, you will almost never cause or get into an accident. (You’ll probably only get honked at, and that’s always preferable to an accident.)
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PROTECT YOURSELF FROM IDENTITY THEFT: The key is “protect yourself.” As we have recently seen, you can’t depend on some large corporation or bank to protect you from someone stealing your identity. It happens tens of thousands of times each day.
Here are five things you can do right now to protect yourself:
- Sign up for ongoing credit monitoring.
- Next, freeze your credit files at the three credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and Transunion. Remember that generally it is not possible to sign up for credit monitoring services after a freeze is in place. Advice for how to file a freeze is available on a state-by-state basis at: www.consumersunion.org/research/security-freeze/
- Check your three credit reports for free at www.annualcreditreport.com.
- Check your bank and credit card statements at least monthly, and carefully.
- If you believe you have been the victim of identity theft, a good website is www.idtheftcenter.org or you can call the ID Theft Center at (888) 400-5530 for advice. All of the center’s services are free. (You can also call me, (208) 699-0506.)
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NEW ITEM — BILL’S LIST: I will be listing companies that I feel provide outstanding goods or services to local consumers. I will list the name, address and phone number of the business and a brief description of the goods or services they offer. You can’t pay to be on this list. There will be no negative list. It is not advertising. Companies will come and go on my list. There will be no rating system or consumer comments. It’s just companies I like. You can find the first few companies on my blog at: www.cdapressconsumerguy.com
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I’m in your corner! Thanks to The Coeur d’Alene Press, a newspaper that is “Large Enough to Matter — and Small Enough to Care.”
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I have many more interesting cases that I’m working on as The CDA Press Consumer Guy. Call me at (208) 699-0506, email me at CDAPressConsumerGuy @gmail.com or fax me at (866) 362-9266. Also include your full name and a phone number. I am available to speak about consumerism to schools, and local and civic groups.
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Bill Brooks is the CDA Press Consumer Guy and an active Associate Real Estate Associate Broker for Tomlinson-Sotheby’s International Realty in Coeur d’Alene.