GTA woman says her information was compromised by Equifax hack
Posted October 19, 2017 6:27 pm.
Last Updated October 19, 2017 7:16 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Thousands of Canadians across the country, including GTA residents, are finding out their most intimate financial details have been compromised by Equifax.
It was on Sept. 7 when the massive global consumer credit reporting company announced a massive breach in its system. But it took until last Friday for the company to get a handle on just how many Canadians have been affected. Notices are going out now.
Toronto law firm Sotos LLP, which is spearheading a $500-million class action lawsuit, said it’s a financial disaster for anyone who has been affected.
“A class action lawsuit has the potential to get you money down the road, but as far as getting you an iron clad solution for down the road I don’t have answers for that,” said Sotos lawyer Jean-Marc Leclerc.
A GTA woman who wished to remain anonymous told CityNews she was concerned about how the breach could affect her privacy in the future.
“First of all, you’re shocked that, yes, your information is out there, your entire life, your credit card transactions, your addresses, your social insurance number,” she said.
“So many things are going through my head right now. First of all, how I’m going to live moving forward knowing my information is out there and something may happen — maybe not this year, maybe next year, maybe even five years, 10 years from now. This will (follow me) until the end of my life.”
Ironically, she had been paying Equifax $20 a month to protect her from financial fraud.
Equifax now says 8,000 Canadians have been affected; an earlier estimate put the number closer to 100,000.
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