Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement • Hacker News Board

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#121

Post by thedanbob » Thu, Jul 25, 2019, 8:28 PM UTC

blackflame7000 wrote: post #114

thedanbob wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder. When I bought my first house it was a very simple process because my finances were very simple. For the second, which I’m still in the process of finalizing, it’s been an absolute nightmare. Both my wife and I have credit scores above 800, but add just a few unusual financial elements to the mix and the underwriters start having aneurysms. Take away those nice shiny credit scores and I imagine many banks wo…

> a few unusual financial elements to the mix Isn't this the definition of a red flag? All you are is a profile to them so any unusual activity is going to draw scrutiny whether it's warranted or not. They have to do due diligence.

Which is totally fair, I get that. It’s kind of my point: anything financially out of the ordinary, plus the massive (to them) red flag of no credit history, would be a very difficult obstacle to overcome in getting a loan.

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#122

Post by mikeash » Thu, Jul 25, 2019, 8:28 PM UTC

harryh wrote: post #112

mikeash wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s opt in, in the sense that you can refrain from participating in the modern financial system if you want to avoid it.

Yes, if you want people to loan you money at low interest rates you have to agree to the system whereby if you don't pay things back the system will keep track of that and not loan you money at such low rates again. That seems pretty reasonable.

That part is indeed reasonable.

What’s less reasonable is that you also have to participate in the system if you want a bank account or electricity or such. Or, heck, you don’t even need that; just have some fraudster open an account with your info and you’re in.

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#123

Post by JelteF » Thu, Jul 25, 2019, 8:28 PM UTC

swalsh wrote: post #69

soulofmischief wrote: post #44

I don't want money. I don't want free service. I don't want any compensation. I want Equifax as a company to be dissolved for incompetency with private data, and I want a way to legally opt out of other such companies collecting and aggregating private data about me.

"I want a way to legally opt out of other such companies collecting and aggregating private data about me." The problem is this also means you will be completely opting out of the credit system. No more morgtgages, no more credit cards, no more car loans. I'm afraid it's kind of a necessary evil.

In the US yes, in a lot of other country in the world they don't have a credit score as crazy as this. The only thing that's registered in the Netherlands for instance is how much you have to pay every month in interest and if you have failed to pay any of the bills for loans you have. This is submitted to the government and requested and updated by banks.

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#124

Post by mikeash » Thu, Jul 25, 2019, 8:30 PM UTC

ed312 wrote: post #105

mikeash wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a convenient evil. Finance isn’t the only area that uses reputation judge people. I imagine we’ve all been asked for references when applying for a job or an apartment. Jobs and apartments manage to get by without a centralized score. Mortgages predate credit scores by centuries. It’s demonstrably not necessary.

Many, if not all medium to large companies do in fact pull a limited credit report as part of the screening process. Also, there is far more regulation on mortgages these days. E.g. I can get a massive home loan from a banker I've never met before because of credit bureaus.

Many do, many don’t. And they’d keep on hiring just fine if they couldn’t.

As for getting a loan from a banker you’ve never met, my point exactly. They’re a convenient evil.

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#125

Post by dwild » Thu, Jul 25, 2019, 8:30 PM UTC

simonsarris wrote: post #2

It would become a legendary case study if this site turned out to be an information phishing site. (This one is legit but I expect it to happen someday. I'm surprised it hasn't already.) After all this site links to the law firm JND, but nowhere does JND mention this site. So any of us could have made this site. Use the form below to find out if your information was impacted and if you are a class member. Last Name _…

In Quebec we recently had a massive information leak from Desjardins, a credit union used by most of the population. It didn't take long for people to receive phishing SMS trying to get information from people.

It's not exactly the same, but work the same way.

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#126

Post by harryh » Thu, Jul 25, 2019, 8:31 PM UTC

mikeash wrote: post #122

harryh wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, if you want people to loan you money at low interest rates you have to agree to the system whereby if you don't pay things back the system will keep track of that and not loan you money at such low rates again. That seems pretty reasonable.

That part is indeed reasonable. What’s less reasonable is that you also have to participate in the system if you want a bank account or electricity or such. Or, heck, you don’t even need that; just have some fraudster open an account with your info and you’re in.

Opening a plain jane checking account won't impact your credit report. Neither will the vast majority of accounts with electric or other utility companies.

If a fraudster does something in your name, you can get things corrected. I agree that this can be more work than it should be, and would support regulations to make dealing with this easier.

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#127

Post by basch » Thu, Jul 25, 2019, 8:35 PM UTC

discreditable wrote: post #24

It's turbo BS that you're not entitled to cash payout unless you already have a credit monitoring service.

I count at least 6 credit monitors I have active: mint, credit karma, credit union, citi, chase, wf.

Significant other has mint, credit karma, different credit union, boa, cap one.

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#128

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jul 25, 2019, 8:37 PM UTC

mikeash wrote: post #104

swalsh wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I want a way to legally opt out of other such companies collecting and aggregating private data about me." The problem is this also means you will be completely opting out of the credit system. No more morgtgages, no more credit cards, no more car loans. I'm afraid it's kind of a necessary evil.

It’s a convenient evil. Finance isn’t the only area that uses reputation judge people. I imagine we’ve all been asked for references when applying for a job or an apartment. Jobs and apartments manage to get by without a centralized score. Mortgages predate credit scores by centuries. It’s demonstrably not necessary.

[deleted]

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#129

Post by dwild » Thu, Jul 25, 2019, 8:38 PM UTC

TallGuyShort wrote: post #27

jbredeche wrote: post #18

If this breach affected 147M people (which is what I can find from various articles), and $700M was set aside (before attorney fees), and most claims will be $125, that's only ~4M people who will get $125. Are they expecting very few people to file claims? Or what am I missing?

It sounds to me like they'll give you free credit monitoring, UNLESS YOU ALREADY HAD CREDIT MONITORING, then they'll give you $125. Most people don't have credit monitoring, I think. Personally, I've found the free credit monitoring that they gave me pretty useless. I get an email regularly telling me my score changed. I have to go log in and find out I went up 2 points because of an algorithm change. Thanks for look…

> I get an email regularly telling me my score changed. I have to go log in and find out I went up 2 points because of an algorithm change

In the Canadian version of Equifax you can set how much of a score change send an email.

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#130

Post by mikeash » Thu, Jul 25, 2019, 8:48 PM UTC

harryh wrote: post #126

mikeash wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That part is indeed reasonable. What’s less reasonable is that you also have to participate in the system if you want a bank account or electricity or such. Or, heck, you don’t even need that; just have some fraudster open an account with your info and you’re in.

Opening a plain jane checking account won't impact your credit report. Neither will the vast majority of accounts with electric or other utility companies. If a fraudster does something in your name, you can get things corrected. I agree that this can be more work than it should be, and would support regulations to make dealing with this easier.

Merely opening an account won’t. But if something goes wrong and they decide you owe money, that will. It’s not a certainty, but by just opening a checking account you are taking on an certain amount of risk that your info will be reported to the credit agency.

You can get your info corrected if you’re the victim of fraud. Can you get it deleted entirely, such that the credit bureau has no record of you, as if you never existed? Or is participation in the system not actually voluntary at all?