January 31st, 2018 was the last day that Minnesota consumers could sign up for the free offers from Equifax following their massive data breach in 2017. However, this doesn’t mean that the heightened threat of identity theft caused by the breach is over – far from it. Moving forward, consumers in Minnesota should remain on high alert. Because the hackers responsible exposed Social Security numbers, they can attack affected consumers at any point – even years from now. Because, for most consumers in Minnesota, Social Security numbers don’t change. In reality, it makes more sense for identity thieves to hold on to this sensitive data until the smoke clears, and consumers are less vigilant. Then, they can strike when least expected.
How Minnesota Consumers Who Didn’t Sign Up for Free Equifax Services Can Still Protect Themselves in the Wake of the Security Breach
Immediately following the public announcement about the data breach, Equifax offered all consumers a year of free credit monitoring. They also allowed consumers in Minnesota and all other states to freeze and unfreeze their Equifax credit reports at no cost. Again, the cutoff date for both of these promotions was January 31st, 2018. Yet, Minnesota consumers who missed signing up for these services have other protection options. In fact, even those who signed up for the Equifax offers should consider additional safety measures.
Unfortunately, Equifax’s credit monitoring service alone won’t give Minnesota consumers complete protection against identity theft. In addition, freezing your Equifax credit report is fairly meaningless unless you freeze your reports from TransUnion and Experian as well. Yes, there are fees involved when freezing and unfreezing credit reports. But doing so might prevent an identity thief from opening fraudulent accounts in your name.
Of course, one of the best things consumers in Minnesota can do to minimize credit score damage caused by identity theft is to regularly check their financial statements and credit reports. It is always free to look at your bank and credit card statements online. As for your credit reports, you can review these for free as well. Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), you may request a free copy of your credit report from each of the major credit bureaus every 12 months. Just go to www.annualcreditreport.com to gain access to your most recent credit reports from TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian.
How Minnesota Identity Theft Victims Should Recover their Credit Reports
If, at any point, you spot signs of identity theft on one, two, or all three of your credit reports, you should file a police report immediately. You will need a copy of this police report in order to complete the credit report recovery process.
Next, contact Credit Repair Lawyers of America in Minnesota. Our team of credit pros will take you through the credit report recovery process from start to finish. Then, an experienced credit attorney will do whatever it takes to get you clean credit reports – for free.
The Free and Legal way to Get Better Credit After Identity Theft in Minnesota
Don’t let fraudulent accounts or transactions on your credit reports bring your credit score down. At Credit Repair Lawyers of America, we’ve been cleaning up credit reports for consumers since 2008 for free. How do we do it? The law allows us to collect our fees and costs from the defendants in any successful action. This is why our clients pay nothing for the work we do.
Let’s start the conversation about what we can do for your credit. Set up your free consultation today by calling Attorney Gary Nitzkin at (612) 235-4458 or sending him a message through our contact page.
For more information about Free Credit Repair After Identity Theft, please visit https://creditrepairlawyersam.com/minnesota/id-theft/.
