What to Do If Your Identity Was Stolen After the Equifax Hack

Nearly half of Americans had their personal information exposed during a breach at Equifax, the company announced last week. Sensitive data on about 80 million Anthem customers was accessed in 2015. These breaches are some of the worst because the information stolen (names, Social Security numbers, addresses) can be used by an imposter to open accounts in your name, steal your tax refund or your Social Security check. When your credit card number is stolen, it's easier to fix. You call the credit card company to close the card and get a new number. Equifax will notify you in the mail if this is the case. But the credit rating bureau won't notify you directly if you're one of the 143 million people whose more sensitive information was stolen. You must go online to EquifaxSecurity2017.com to find out.