After 77 million Sony PlayStation Network users recently had their personal identifiable information breached, Equifax is advising consumers to look into a product that offers more than just a free fraud alert to prevent this from happening in the future.
The Atlanta-based provider of credit information, risk management and identity services said fraud alerts are primarily designed to protect consumers against the most insidious form of identity theft, new account fraud. However, identity thieves and hackers still have the capability to use an individual’s stolen personal information like credit card numbers to commit additional fraudulent activity on existing accounts.
“Consumers have to be proactive about protecting their personal information from misuse,” Equifax said in a press release. “Fraud alerts alone only offer one-sided protection.”
By purchasing the company’s complete premier plan, which costs $19.95 a month, consumers receive daily credit monitoring, as well as alerts if their personal information is found on suspicious trading sites.
Other features that a consumer receives with the monthly plan includes an automatic fraud alert feature that helps prevent identification theft, unlimited access to your Equifax credit report and score to monitor and track the score to see how it changes over time, up to $1 million in identity theft insurance and the chance to see your three bureau credit report with scores every 12 months.
“Although fraud alerts have long been recognized as one of the strongest methods of identity protection, they simply aren’t enough,” said Trey Loughran, president of Equifax’s personal informational solutions division. “Existing account information like credit card numbers are vulnerable to identity thieves even with an active fraud alert. And the longer it takes to detect identity theft, the costlier the damage that can be done.”
