The law Q & A | What to do if you think your credit information has been hacked

What can I do if my financial information from a credit company is hacked? Is the company responsible to me?

Last year, the Equifax credit reporting agency was hacked and the accounts of at least 145 million people were stolen. This means social security numbers, loan account numbers, driver's license numbers, names, birth dates and addresses.

This information can be used to commit credit fraud – borrow loans on your behalf. Draining financial accounts on your behalf. Deviate payments for you. Again and again.

What to do? Federal law allows you to obtain a free copy of a credit report every 12 months from each of the three major agencies – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

So, look at them to see if an activity seems suspicious – a credit card debt, for example, that you know you have not opened. Check your own account statements for any expense you are familiar with and have not billed.

In case of fraud, freeze your credit. As of September 21, you can freeze your credit for free by avoiding the fees generally charged by rating agency. Before, you had to pay 15 or 25 dollars for such a freeze.

But thaw it when you ask for new credit cards or new loans. The freeze does not prevent fraudulent tax returns filed on your behalf or charges already charged on frozen accounts.

If you have had a financial problem because of a credit rating violation, you may be able to sue the company, but it will be a tough one. You must prove that the thief who destroyed you got the information from the company. Prove that the company has used little care in protecting the info. Prove that ravaged information is related to your ravaged finances. This can be expensive and factual and legally complicated.

The Government Accountability Office, the US Congressional investigation agency, said Equifax had acknowledged that its server had a weak point in its software before hacking. Equifax has not noticed the attack for more than six weeks.

Equifax and its service provider have pinpointed who dropped the software ball to fix the weak spot. If the investigations had been so precise, the investigators felt that the extent of the violation had been relatively small.

Nationwide class actions have been filed against Equifax, including an ambitious lawsuit with plaintiffs in all states. You may be solicited by lawyers representing a class.

If you choose to participate in a class action, you will only recover the amount approved by the court and distributed to each participant. So that $ 150 check you receive in five years can prevent you from suing for the $ 12,000 of damage you actually suffered.

Until now, no federal agency charged with protecting consumers has taken any enforcement actions against Equifax. Regulators in several states have placed consent orders with the company to improve its cybersecurity. Under these regulations, Equifax did not admit any wrongdoing.

Your credit report can be ordered for free at annualcreditreport.com.

As Arnold Schwarzenegger said, "Dooo it! Dooo it now!"

Brett Kepley is a lawyer with the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation. You can send your questions to The Law Q & A, 302 N. First St., Champaign, IL 61820. Questions can be edited for space.