Your Survival Guy

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Are You a Victim of the Equifax Data Breach?

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With 143 million Americans possibly affected by the Equifax data breach, if you’re an adult with a credit card, it’s more likely than not that you’ve had your data stolen.

The problem with the Equifax breach is that it’s a gateway to so many other possible breaches. Every bit of credit you have in the world is cataloged by Equifax and the other credit ratings agencies. Now it’s possible that along with your roster of credit card and loan information, your Social Security number, driver’s license number, address and more have been leaked.

The stock market is already hammering Equifax shares, and the response will be long and painful for everyone involved. AnnaMaria Andriotis and Ezequiel Minaya write at The Wall Street Journal: 

Reports of the breach sent shares of Equifax sliding 12.6% to $124.51 in after-hours trading.

Equifax also said credit-card numbers for approximately 209,000 U.S. consumers were accessed, as well as dispute documents with sensitive information for another 182,000 people.

With the Equifax attack, banks now will have to reissue cards for the approximately 209,000 credit cards stolen in the breach, but for consumers the theft uniquely identifying information such as Social Security numbers and birth dates could have a permanent effect. Additionally, a limited number of people in Canada and the U.K. were affected, the company said.

Stock of other financial companies weren’t initially affected with shares of credit-card issuers and big banks mostly unchanged or up slightly in after-hours trading.

Equifax said it has set up a website—www.equifaxsecurity2017.com—to help consumers determine if their information has been compromised and to allow them to sign up for a complimentary slate of credit-monitoring and identity-theft protection. The company also has established a dedicated call center for consumers.

Read more here.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com