In a 2019 complaint, the Federal Trade Commission alleged that Equifax had failed to make a patch in its network after being alerted to the security vulnerability.
Equifax, without admitting guilt, agreed that year to a settlement with the FTC, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and 50 states and territories. Part of that settlement was providing credit monitoring.
Because of appeals, the settlement was not finalized until last month. Now millions of people who filed a claim are getting an email from the settlement administrator asking them to sign up for free credit monitoring for four years, which covers their files at all three credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
Let me tell you how this breach and so many others have affected my life. I’m sure you can sympathize, because no amount of free credit monitoring is going to make up for the incessant scam and sham telephone calls, text messages and emails.
Then there are the aggravating phishing emails — hundreds every week. It’s like playing whack-a-mole at a carnival. You delete them, but more keep popping into your inbox.
I don’t believe for a second some clinical research project is going to pay me up to $1,125. I don’t need a cheap cure for erectile dysfunction. UPS isn’t trying to reach me. Samsung, Lowe’s, Dollar General and Apple are not giving me $90.
And AOL/Verizon is not updating my email account. This last one is…
