Gee thanks, Experian

Governor Nikki Haley is expected to hold a press conference today to update everyone on the hacking of the Department of Revenue. I can’t wait to hear what else has gone wrong, because each time she speaks, the situation seems to get worse.

As we wait for her afternoon briefing, I figured I’d share my recent experience with Experian, the credit-monitoring company the state provided to all South Carolina residents after the hack. I already talked about the potential holes in Experian’s “protection” and how the company didn’t provide the type of help we all needed, but I was happy that they supposedly provided a very good monitoring service.

Well, about that…

On Saturday I decided to apply for a new credit card; I did so through the internet. A few minutes later I was approved and that was that. The next morning I received an e-mail from a credit-monitoring service alerting me to a change in my credit report. The change, of course, was that my information was run by the credit card company and was used to apply for a card. The service that alerted me to this change (and in less than 24 hours no less) was not Experian. Years ago I signed up for a pay (but cheap) service through one of my banks.

So, when did Experian get a hold of me? I received an e-mail from them late Monday night. It was well over 48 hours since I had applied for the card. Although this isn’t horrible, it does mean that a potential criminal would have had a 2 day head start if my only credit-monitoring service was Experian, the company the state told us was good enough to protect us from their blunder.

Although Experian did what it was supposed to, it was slower then one would like. As I’ve said before, I highly recommend you remain proactive with your credit. Check out your other options to ensure you have the best protection possible.

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