Finger Lakes Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Schneiderman: 8M New Yorkers affected by Equifax cyberattack

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP & WXXI News)  Some 8 million New Yorkers were affected by the massive cyberattack targeting the credit monitoring company Equifax. 

The figure comes from the office of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who on Friday launched an investigation into the massive breach. 

In total, the cyberattack targeting the credit monitoring company exposed data belonging to 143 million Americans including Social Security numbers, birthdates and driver's license numbers. 

Schneiderman says his office aims to ``get to the bottom'' of how the breach occurred. 

He says anyone worried about their own information should call the Equifax response line at 866-447-7559. He also encouraged consumers to monitor their credit and their accounts to check for unfamiliar charges or activity.

Melanie McGovern is a spokeswoman for the Better Business Bureau of Upstate New York. She says consumers should take advantage of any free credit monitoring that's offered, and in general, just keep track of their bank and credit accounts and other information.  She says identity theft may be the biggest problem affecting some of those affected by this breach.

“Once your identity is stolen, it’s very hard to get back any part of it. You could be on the hook for loans, credit cards, so it’s always important to make sure you’re paying attention, that you’re nipping any kind of fraudulent activity before it really becomes a big problem.”

Equifax also has a website with information.

 

Copyright 2017 WXXI News

Associated Press
The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.