Sacramento, CA…In the wake of Equifax’s massive data breach, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today urged the nation’s credit reporting agencies to provide free credit freezes for all consumers. Credit freezes allow consumers to protect their personal information from fraud and identity theft. While Equifax has waived its fee, TransUnion and Experian have not.

“It’s time the credit reporting agencies put people over profits,” said Attorney General Becerra. “The Equifax data breach left millions of Californians’ personal information vulnerable. The credit reporting agencies are supposed to protect consumers, banks, and lenders alike from identity theft and fraudulent activity. Experian and TransUnion should waive their fees for security freezes to ensure that credit reports and the information contained therein remain accurate and secure.”

The Equifax data breach impacted 145.5 million Americans and more than 15 million Californians Equifax is one of the nation’s three major credit reporting agencies. According to Equifax, the breach lasted from mid-May through July, and compromised names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers.

To find out if you have been impacted by the Equifax data breach, please visit: https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/potential-impact/. If using Wi-Fi, ensure a secure Wi-Fi connection before submitting personal information.

To post a fraud alert on your credit file, you must contact one of the three major credit reporting agencies below. If you contact any one of the three major credit reporting agencies, fraud alerts will be automatically added by the other two agencies as well.

Experian 1-888-397-3742
experian.com/fraud/center.html

TransUnion 1-800-680-7289
transunion.com/fraud

Equifax 1-888-766-0008
alerts.equifax.com