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Congrats - Your Data Was Stolen... Again

J

Jimmy Higgins

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Joined
Jan 31, 2001
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Calvinistic Atheist
United Healthcare had a hack and they are currently trying to figure just how many people have been impacted.


Can we just pass a bill that requires all corporations that house any data on us to have to contribute 100% (in aggregate) to a credit monitoring system that All Americans will be part of?
 
From the title, I thought someone stole my SF 86 back from the Chinese. And there was another fed hack after that I got hit by. Not that I had much left to hide. You get someone's security questionnaire and that's pretty much the whole ball of wax, save for all the messed up shit floating around in my head.

I wonder why the feds haven't made paying ransom flat out illegal.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
Can we just pass a bill that requires all corporations that house any data on us to have to contribute 100% (in aggregate) to a credit monitoring system that All Americans will be part of?
Click to expand...

3 months later...

Credit monitoring system: sorry, your data was stolen.
 
We have an epidemic of hacking at the moment too. Airlines, healthcare providers, airlines. So much data in the hands of those who do not want it nor deserve it.

A lot of it is sheer carelessness and inattention to detail
 
Too many systems use the internet for their data communications. Sensitive data should be kept in closed systems. My old healthcare employer had three major hospitals and dozens of outpatient clinics all hard networked by fiber running all over the county.
 
Don2 (Don1 Revised) said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
Can we just pass a bill that requires all corporations that house any data on us to have to contribute 100% (in aggregate) to a credit monitoring system that All Americans will be part of?
Click to expand...

3 months later...

Credit monitoring system: sorry, your data was stolen.
Click to expand...
It took me four years to after my data was stolen to convince Equifax that I had not moved to Delaware in 2018. In fact I told them multiple times that not only had I not moved there, but I had never been there and had not even flown over the state as far as I knew. Yet the next time I checked, the Delaware address was always still there. Two years after I'd "locked down" my credit and put fraud alerts on every account and at every credit agency, "I" was still trying to buy thousands of dollars in farm equipment in Arkansas...where I also have never been.
 
Ford said:
Don2 (Don1 Revised) said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
Can we just pass a bill that requires all corporations that house any data on us to have to contribute 100% (in aggregate) to a credit monitoring system that All Americans will be part of?
Click to expand...

3 months later...

Credit monitoring system: sorry, your data was stolen.
Click to expand...
It took me four years to after my data was stolen to convince Equifax that I had not moved to Delaware in 2018. In fact I told them multiple times that not only had I not moved there, but I had never been there and had not even flown over the state as far as I knew. Yet the next time I checked, the Delaware address was always still there. Two years after I'd "locked down" my credit and put fraud alerts on every account and at every credit agency, "I" was still trying to buy thousands of dollars in farm equipment in Arkansas...where I also have never been.
Click to expand...
Yup. We need better systems for verifying your identity. Cash on the barrelhead, fine, but once you are dealing with transactions where the goods and the money are separate (and that applies to basically everything online) we need better checking that you are you. We simply get too many headaches from bogus information.

One thing that I think could help is allow flagging items in your credit report as known bad data. That Delaware address came back? You flag it, the next time whoever is sending the data tries to send it again it's rejected and they get back a notice that they are submitting bad data, fix it.

And how about something I'll call a credit chill. Set it, you get notified about any credit attempt and must authenticate it before it can go through.
 
bilby said:
Tigers! said:
A lot of it is sheer carelessness and inattention to detail
Click to expand...
A lot of it is the rogue nations (mainly Russia) that not only don't care about cyber-crimes committed against foreigners, but actively encourage it, as a plank of their policy to destabilise the West.
Click to expand...
Don't blame russians for you using "12345" password.
If anything you should pay Russia for improving your security against future Chinese attacks.
 
ZiprHead said:
Too many systems use the internet for their data communications. Sensitive data should be kept in closed systems. My old healthcare employer had three major hospitals and dozens of outpatient clinics all hard networked by fiber running all over the county.
Click to expand...
Ordinary internet is not inherently unsafe. You would be surprised how many companies have never been hacked. And it's not for the lack of trying.
 
I always say good luck to anyone who steals my data because I'm too broke for you to get anything worthwhile. And I definitely won't be paying a dime to any company foolish enough to fall for identity theft. As for my credit score, I couldn't care less at this stage in my life. I already have everything I need.
 
Loren Pechtel said:

One thing that I think could help is allow flagging items in your credit report as known bad data. That Delaware address came back? You flag it, the next time whoever is sending the data tries to send it again it's rejected and they get back a notice that they are submitting bad data, fix it.
Click to expand...

That's the thing that took so long. I reported the bad info as soon as I found it. Literally went to my bank the very next day to close that account and update my address - removing the Delaware one. That's where the breach came. So all I had to do was wait for that reported address to drop off after I did that and corrected it with Equifax, right?

Nope. The next time I checked, it was still there. So I sent an online dispute. Got a notification that the dispute and been received. Done, right? Nope. So I called and spoke to someone, and they said they'd take care of it. Problem solved? Spoiler alert: Next time I checked, there was my "home" in Delaware. Lather, rinse, and repeat every six months. In the meantime came the folks trying to buy stuff at the Tractor Supply Company, and another couple attempted online purchases on my credit card I got to replace that one, and mind you this is all while my credit had been "frozen" with all agencies since the day after I got the initial notification from Equifax that my address had "changed," and with fraud alerts active on all of my accounts. After another dispute filed through their website and a phone call where I tried very hard not to vent on the poor customer service rep, they finally fixed it in early 2022.

I swear it's almost like they agreed to fix it not because they admitted it was a mistake, but just so I'd stop "bothering" them.

The really frustrating thing is that once your data is stolen, you can't steal it back. It's out there on the "dark web" and in the hands of multiple entities. So I'm left with being constantly vigilant, obsessive about looking for fraudulent charges on my accounts, and having to un-freeze my credit for a few days if I want to buy a car or take out a loan. I am going to have to do this for the rest of my life.
 
Gospel said:
I always say good luck to anyone who steals my data because I'm too broke for you to get anything worthwhile. And I definitely won't be paying a dime to any company foolish enough to fall for identity theft. As for my credit score, I couldn't care less at this stage in my life. I already have everything I need.
Click to expand...
Auto insurance companies use your credit score in determining your insurance rate. We recently closed a credit card account and my scores dropped fifty points.
 
Yes, once they determine the credit report was incorrect, underwriting will adjust my rates. To me It's a minor inconvenience to pay a bit more for a coverage period that will eventually be corrected. Heck, they've messed up my rates without identity theft by putting my daughter on a car she doesn't drive.
 
Loren Pechtel said:
Ford said:
Don2 (Don1 Revised) said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
Can we just pass a bill that requires all corporations that house any data on us to have to contribute 100% (in aggregate) to a credit monitoring system that All Americans will be part of?
Click to expand...

3 months later...

Credit monitoring system: sorry, your data was stolen.
Click to expand...
It took me four years to after my data was stolen to convince Equifax that I had not moved to Delaware in 2018. In fact I told them multiple times that not only had I not moved there, but I had never been there and had not even flown over the state as far as I knew. Yet the next time I checked, the Delaware address was always still there. Two years after I'd "locked down" my credit and put fraud alerts on every account and at every credit agency, "I" was still trying to buy thousands of dollars in farm equipment in Arkansas...where I also have never been.
Click to expand...
Yup. We need better systems for verifying your identity. Cash on the barrelhead, fine, but once you are dealing with transactions where the goods and the money are separate (and that applies to basically everything online) we need better checking that you are you. We simply get too many headaches from bogus information.

One thing that I think could help is allow flagging items in your credit report as known bad data. That Delaware address came back? You flag it, the next time whoever is sending the data tries to send it again it's rejected and they get back a notice that they are submitting bad data, fix it.

And how about something I'll call a credit chill. Set it, you get notified about any credit attempt and must authenticate it before it can go through.
Click to expand...
How about not giving private citizens credit ratings at all, and/or not allowing the use of third party credit ratings by lenders to private citizens?

The US seems to be the only OECD nation where such ratings are ubiquitous (despite recent attempts by the rating agencies to expand their businesses internationally), and your country appears to be a worse place to live as a consequence of this (often flawed) system, which looks to me to be just as cruel and capricious as tbe Chinese social credit score system.
 
bilby said:
How about not giving private citizens credit ratings at all, and/or not allowing the use of third party credit ratings by lenders to private citizens?

The US seems to be the only OECD nation where such ratings are ubiquitous (despite recent attempts by the rating agencies to expand their businesses internationally), and your country appears to be a worse place to live as a consequence of this (often flawed) system, which looks to me to be just as cruel and capricious as tbe Chinese social credit score system.
Click to expand...
What's your alternative for keeping track of who pays their bills and who doesn't?
 
Loren Pechtel said:
bilby said:
How about not giving private citizens credit ratings at all, and/or not allowing the use of third party credit ratings by lenders to private citizens?

The US seems to be the only OECD nation where such ratings are ubiquitous (despite recent attempts by the rating agencies to expand their businesses internationally), and your country appears to be a worse place to live as a consequence of this (often flawed) system, which looks to me to be just as cruel and capricious as tbe Chinese social credit score system.
Click to expand...
What's your alternative for keeping track of who pays their bills and who doesn't?
Click to expand...
Why do you need to do that? The rest of the developed world manages just fine without doing it.

Lenders determine who can pay, and lend to those people - that is, they look at their income and expenditure, at the time the loan is being considered.

If they don't then make their payments, the security is seized, and/or they go to court.

The entire concept of "credit rating" is based on the extremely dubious ideas that people never change, and that somebody who hasn't paid off a loan in the past, won't pay one off in the future - even if the reason that they didn't pay a loan off in the past was because they didn't take on a loan in the past.

It's more of the tired old puritan stupidity that assigns everyone a life-long, god-given, level of moral probity.
 
bilby said:
Loren Pechtel said:
bilby said:
How about not giving private citizens credit ratings at all, and/or not allowing the use of third party credit ratings by lenders to private citizens?

The US seems to be the only OECD nation where such ratings are ubiquitous (despite recent attempts by the rating agencies to expand their businesses internationally), and your country appears to be a worse place to live as a consequence of this (often flawed) system, which looks to me to be just as cruel and capricious as tbe Chinese social credit score system.
Click to expand...
What's your alternative for keeping track of who pays their bills and who doesn't?
Click to expand...
Why do you need to do that? The rest of the developed world manages just fine without doing it.

Lenders determine who can pay, and lend to those people - that is, they look at their income and expenditure, at the time the loan is being considered.

If they don't then make their payments, the security is seized, and/or they go to court.

The entire concept of "credit rating" is based on the extremely dubious ideas that people never change, and that somebody who hasn't paid off a loan in the past, won't pay one off in the future - even if the reason that they didn't pay a loan off in the past was because they didn't take on a loan in the past.

It's more of the tired old puritan stupidity that assigns everyone a life-long, god-given, level of moral probity.
Click to expand...
Credit ratings vary based on your behavior, they are not set in stone.

And it is a very useful measure, both of paying (for most debt there's no verification of income. The fact that you have a good record of paying what you owe is considered a pretty good indication you're not biting off more than you can chew) and as a general measure of responsibility. (While there are a few with bad credit ratings through no fault of their own the vast majority ended up there through not being careful.)

As for not having taken a loan in the past--all loans have aged off our credit reports by now. It's purely from paying credit cards, nothing else. Our ratings are in the ballpark of 800--and lenders treat anything above 740 the same. Thus if for some reason we were to apply for a loan we would be considered a good risk.
 
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