The Voice • September 2017
The recent data breach of the national credit bureau, Equifax, could largely affect 143 million U.S. consumers. Pieces of personal information such as Social Security numbers, credit card data and driver’s license numbers are now up for grabs and available for purchase by cyber criminals. All of this information could be used against those who had their personal information exposed. Fraudulent credit accounts and credit charges can drastically affect a victim’s current financial situation and even into the future.
According to Terry Clemans, Executive Director of the National Consumer Reporting Association, there is “bound to be a lot of damage.” [1] Equifax held so much information that pertained largely with homeowners and individuals applying for mortgages. Clemans advised to the consumers who believe that they may be affected to lock down their credit files with “fraud alerts or credit-file freezes.” [1]
Taking either of these steps could possibly help prevent fraudsters from establishing illegitimate lines of credit. Since credit financing and reporting are integral to the process of a land transaction it would be in the interests of credit users to monitor all activity up until the time of a full closing. Doing so can allow for the transaction to transpire without complication.
Sources
[2] http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-equifax-breach-20170908-story.html
