PHOENIX – Attorney General Mark Brnovich joined a 32-state bipartisan investigation into the massive Equifax data breach recently disclosed to the public. In a letter sent to Equifax today, the attorneys general are calling for Equifax to disable links for enrollment in fee-based credit monitoring service in the wake of the data breach impacting 143 million people.
“Consumers, who are at absolutely no fault in this situation, should not have to pay for credit monitoring services," said Attorney General Mark Brnovich. “We believe continuing to offer consumers a fee-based service in addition to Equifax’s free monitoring services will serve to only confuse consumers who are already struggling to make decisions on how to best protect themselves in the wake of this massive breach.”
Equifax is offering free credit monitoring services in response to the breach, but the attorneys general today raised concerns to Equifax "seemingly using its own data breach as an opportunity to sell services to breach victims.” Consumers who view Equifax’s homepage are offered both Equifax fee-based credit monitoring services, as well as its services offered at no cost.
"As soon as this breach was disclosed, my office mobilized and opened an investigation, “said Attorney General Brnovich. "We want to know about the circumstances that led to the breach, the reasons for the months-long delay before public disclosure, and what protections the company had in place at the time of the breach."
View today's letter.
Consumers should take steps to monitor their credit reports and their bank accounts and credit card statements, place a fraud alert on credit reports, and report any suspicious activity immediately. Consumers are entitled to one free credit report from each of the three nationwide credit bureaus - Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion - each year.
If you believe you have been the victim of consumer fraud, you can file a consumer complaint by contacting the Attorney General’s Office in Phoenix at (602) 542-5763, in Tucson at (520) 628-6504, or outside the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas at (800) 352-8431. Consumers can also file complaints online by visiting the Attorney General’s website at https://www.azag.gov/complaints/consumer.