Consumer Protection: How to Protect Yourself in Wake of Equifax Data Breach

To find out if you personal information was compromised by the Equifax data breach and to learn steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft, click here. You can also learn other consumer protection tips from our Identity Theft and Online Privacy resources.

Given the massive size of the breach, Attorney General Racine suggests all District consumers take the following precautions:

1. Check to see if your personal information was compromised by visiting the special website Equifax has set up to assist consumers (https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/);
2. Regularly review your credit reports to check for any suspicious activity;
3. Contact the Office of the Attorney General if you believe your identity has been stolen or your personal information may have been exposed by a retailer by calling OAG’s Office of Consumer Protection through the OAG Consumer Hotline at (202) 442-9828, by sending an e-mail to consumer.protection@dc.gov, or online using OAG’s Consumer Complaint Form.
4. If you are a victim of the Equifax data breach, and you are concerned that your Social Security number may be used to file a fraudulent federal income tax return in your name, you can go to the IRS’s website at https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/get-an-identity-protection-pin and obtain a six digit PIN to use to authenticate your tax filings.

OAG brings court actions to stop deceptive and unconscionable business practices and to obtain compensation for consumers. Although OAG does not represent individual consumers, it helps consumers and merchants to resolve their disputes. In addition, it uses consumer complaint information to determine whether there is a pattern or practice by a business that warrants investigation or possible legal action by OAG.

To reach the Consumer Protection Hotline, call (202) 442-9828 or email consumer.protection@dc.gov. The office hours are Monday - Friday from 8:30am - 5:00pm.

Contact TTY: 711

Office Hours:

Monday-Friday, 8:30am - 5:00pm

Service Location:

GIS Address: 441 4th Street, NW

City: Washington

State: DC

Zip: 20001