Skip to main content

Considering Equifax’s offer of free credit monitoring after its breach? You need to sign up by January 31, 2018. Maybe you tried earlier but had trouble getting through. Or maybe you just put off the decision. Whatever the reason, if you want it, the time is now.

What’s Equifax offering? Until January 31st, anyone with a Social Security number can sign up for one year of free credit monitoring at equifaxsecurity2017.com. You don’t need to be a victim of the Equifax breach.

Here’s what you get: Equifax’s TrustedID credit monitoring covers all three major nationwide credit reporting agencies – Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. If any suspicious activity appears on your credit report, you’ll get an alert. The free services also include a copy of your Equifax credit report, Social Security number monitoring, and identity theft insurance. Plus, for a year, you can lock and unlock your Equifax credit file for free. Credit locks help limit access to your credit file by identity thieves trying to open new accounts. You need to get locks with all three credit reporting agencies for them to be effective.

What happens after January 31st? According to Equifax’s website, the enrollment period for free credit monitoring ends January 31st. Instead, starting January 31st, it will offer a free lock-for-life product that will allow you to lock and unlock your credit file, at no cost, from a mobile phone or computer. Equifax hasn’t announced the details yet. So, if you want to know more, check Equifax’s website after January 31st.

Still not sure what to do? Check out our article on identity theft protection services and FAQs on fraud alerts, credit freezes, and credit locks. And if you’re having trouble getting through to sign up for Equifax’s free credit monitoring, please report that to us.

It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC’s computer user records system. We may routinely use these records as described in the FTC’s Privacy Act system notices. For more information on how the FTC handles information that we collect, please read our privacy policy.

The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

  • We won’t post off-topic comments, repeated identical comments, or comments that include sales pitches or promotions.
  • We won’t post comments that include vulgar messages, personal attacks by name, or offensive terms that target specific people or groups.
  • We won’t post threats, defamatory statements, or suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity.
  • We won’t post comments that include personal information, like Social Security numbers, account numbers, home addresses, and email addresses. To file a detailed report about a scam, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.

Fravel Combs
August 08, 2018
My concern is I have 4 free monitoring accounts due to privacy breaches and one that I pay for. When is free monitoring no longer be the free ticket for organizations not responsibly handling our private data. Lock it down, lock it all down !!!! Frustrated!!!
Lawparks
August 17, 2018
This is worthless. The American citizens deserve better.
applepie1
December 21, 2018
I have received something from IDnotify. They state that IDnotify is a product offered through Experian, and that it is replacing the trusted ID program for the 2nd year of free credit report monitoring. I can't find anything to verify that. I can't even find IDnotify on the Experian website. Please let me know if this is legit. thanks
Grant
September 09, 2019
So I signed up for the credit monitoring, when will I see a report?
FTC Staff
September 10, 2019

In reply to by Grant

Frequently Asked Question #19 on the settlement website (www.EquifaxBreachSettlement.com) says if you make a valid claim for credit monitoring services, the Settlement Administrator will send you information about how to activate your credit monitoring after the settlement is final. The earliest the settlement will be final is January 23, 2020.

The Settlement Administrator will send you an activation code and link to the Experian website. You can enroll and activate your credit monitoring services on the Experian website.

TickedOff
February 18, 2020

In reply to by FTC Staff

I've yet to receive an activation code and link for my credit monitoring services. It's been about 2 months since I enrolled.
TickedOff
February 18, 2020
I signed up for the Equifax protection, was unable to print the confirmation, contacted the firm handling the breach...twice and no response...how am I supposed to know if I actually have any credit monitoring through Equifax now that they've shared my information with crooks. Quite frankly, I think the whole credit bureau business is a scam and should be done away with. I liked it better when lenders contacted companies I had actually done business with to see if I paid on time.