Equifax Breach Settlement (Credit Monitoring Instructions and Activation Code)

"In September 2017, Equifax announced a massive breach had exposed the personal information of approximately 147 million people.People’s names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses — and in some instances driver’s license numbers, credit card numbers and other personal information — were compromised, putting millions of folks at risk of identity theft and other fraudulent activity."

"Equifax, without admitting guilt, agreed... to a settlement with the FTC, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and 50 states and territories. Part of that settlement was providing credit monitoring."

"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."

"Even with credit monitoring, your information can still be used by identity thieves. The notices you get as part of a credit monitoring service are after the fact — after something suspicious or fraudulent might have happened. The only thing we have left is to try to catch an identity thief before too much damage is done."

— The email should have the following address: info@equifaxbreachsettlement.com. Triple-check this before responding or clicking any links.

— The website to claim the free daily credit monitoring is at experianidworks.com/equifaxsettlement. To get the service, you will have to enter the activation code in the email you received from the settlement administrator. You can also call Experian at 1-877-251-5822. You must use the activation code by June 27.

— If any call or correspondence via text or email says you have to pay anything, it’s 100 percent a scam. This service is free for you.

 All quoted from Washington Post's personal finance writer Michelle Singletary. Her award-winning column The Color of Money is syndicated by The Washington Post News Service and Syndicate and carried in dozens of newspapers.