Attorney General Madigan Calls on Credit Bureaus to Halt Fees for Consumers Hit by Equifax Breach

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Business

Attorney General Lisa Madigan joined with 37 other attorneys general to urge credit reporting agencies Experian and TransUnion to immediately stop charging fees to consumers who want to put a credit freeze on their accounts in light of the massive data breach at the consumer reporting agency Equifax. The Equifax data breach reported last month has so far affected over 145 million Americans. “Illinois residents are struggling to protect themselves from potential identity theft and are rightly angry that they must pay $10 to each credit reporting agency to place a credit freeze and another $10 every time they want to temporarily lift the freeze,” Madigan said. “The credit reporting agencies profit by selling consumers’ information, and they have a responsibility to protect that same information. They need to allow consumers to freeze their credit without a charge or hassle.” In addition to the letters, Madigan has initiated House Bill 4095, sponsored by state Rep. Greg Harris, to eliminate credit freeze fees in Illinois. Already, seven states ban or restrict such fees by the credit reporting agencies (CRAs). In addition to placing a credit freeze on all of your credit reports, Madigan offered the following tips consumers can take to safeguard against identity theft:

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Business

  • Regularly request your free credit reports, inspect them closely, and promptly dispute any unauthorized accounts;
  • Inspect all financial account statements closely and promptly dispute any unauthorized charges;
  • Consider placing alerts on your financial accounts so your financial institution alerts you when money above a pre-designated amount is withdrawn;
  • Beware of potential phishing emails; don’t open any email messages or attachments from unknown senders and do not click on any unknown links. Fraudsters will frequently send coercive and misleading emails threatening account suspension or worse if sensitive information is not provided. Remember, businesses will never ask customers to verify account information via email. If in doubt, contact the business in question directly for verification and to report phishing emails; and
  • Be on the lookout for spoofed email addresses. Spoofed email addresses are those that make minor changes in the domain name, frequently changing the letter O to the number zero, or the lowercase letter l to the number one. Scrutinize all incoming email addresses to ensure that the sender is truly legitimate.

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