The growth of the student loan industry has increased public interest in how lenders assess the credit risk of young college-bound adults. Both large and small lenders often use FICO® credit scores to help them underwrite student loans. How the FICO credit scoring formulas treat credit inquiries depends on the way in which those inquiries are […]
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-capital-one-hack-life-in-the-time-of-breach-fatigue-11564824600 Not every thief has every piece of your data. There are still things that you can do that can make a difference. If your Social Security number has been compromised four times, and you haven’t done a credit freeze, you are low-hanging fruit.” Mr. Erwin’s approach is common for those who fear that data […]
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/30/business/capital-one-hack-secured-credit-card-customers/index.html And it could get worse: The Social Security numbers of Capital One secured card holders may also have been exposed in the breach, and identity theft can destroy a credit score. Criminals need only a Social Security number and a few other key bits of personal information to cause serious damage. They can […]
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/30/capital-one-breach-customer-records-social-security-numbers.html The Virginia-headquartered bank said in a news release that about 140,000 Social Security numbers of its credit card customers and around 80,000 linked bank account numbers were compromised. In total, Capital One said, “this event affected approximately 100 million individuals in the United States and approximately 6 million in Canada.” Still, no credit card account […]
Many aspects of privacy protection in our country are broken and Congress is not doing its part to fix them. For example, when hackers obtained the private information of 148 million Americans in the 2017 Equifax breach, Congress did virtually nothing — not even coming close to voting on bills, like the proposed Data Breach Prevention and Compensation Act, which would […]
Do you have a most hated company? Where does Equifax rank on your list? According to an analysis released Thursday by LendEdu, in 2017 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) received 30,576 complaints about the Atlanta-based provider of credit reporting services. No other company generated more consumer gripes in 49 states and Washington, D.C. That […]
“Equifax put profits over privacy and greed over people, and must be held accountable to the millions of people they put at risk,” said Attorney General Letitia James of New York, who helped lead the states’ investigation. “This company’s ineptitude, negligence and lax security standards endangered the identities of half the U.S. population.” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/22/business/equifax-settlement.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage
Data breaches place almost everyone at risk for credit report mistakes. That Equifax — a company charged by law with protecting victims of identity theft and ensuring data integrity — failed to prevent this breach is a bitter irony. Consumers should regularly check their credit reports for inaccurate information. The Fair Credit Reporting Act enshrines […]
https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/robocall-scam-victim-suicide-stole-life-saving Jones killed herself a week later. “It is clear to us that the circumstances that led to her death were caused by these criminals,” Stancik said through tears. Her grandmother had bags of receipts in her closet that showed the money sent to unknown accounts, took out a second mortgage on her home, drained […]
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2019/06/ftc-announces-final-rule-implementing-law-providing-free-credit The final Rule defines “active duty military consumer” as a consumer in military service who meets the FCRA’s definition of “active duty military consumer,” which requires that the consumer be assigned to service away from their usual duty station, or be a member of the National Guard. While commenters recommended eliminating the requirement that […]