Equifax Cautions Fraud Alerts Not Enough to Protect Against Recent Data Breaches

In light of recent major data breaches that may involve more than 80 million people, Equifax, a leading provider of credit information, risk management and identity services, advises consumers to be proactive about protecting their personal information from misuse. Equifax cautions that fraud alerts alone only offer one-sided protection.

"Although fraud alerts have long been recognized as one of the strongest methods of identity protection, they simply aren't enough," says Trey Loughran, president of Equifax Personal Information Solutions. "Existing account information like credit card numbers are vulnerable to identity thieves even with an active fraud alert. And the longer it takes to detect identity theft, the costlier the damage that can be done."

Fraud alerts are primarily designed to protect consumers against the most insidious form of identity theft, new account fraud. However, identity thieves and hackers may still use stolen information like credit card numbers to commit fraudulent activity on existing accounts.

n addition to contacting card issuers and financial institutions and placing a fraud alert on your credit report, Equifax advises consumers to consider the added protection of a credit and identity protection monitoring product. Comprehensive products like Equifax Complete provide daily credit monitoring, as well as alerts if your personal information is found on suspicious trading sites.

For more information about Equifax Complete, visit http://www.equifax.com/compare-products. To place a fraud alert on your credit file, visit https://www.alerts.equifax.com.