Yahoo Data Breach
In 2016, there was a confirmation from Yahoo that their company experienced a huge data breach. This breach affected 3 billion accounts and included names, security questions, and passwords. Yes, you read that right, hackers got important information from Yahoo customers, and billions of people were affected. This was one of the worst data breaches to ever happen, which also includes the Equifax data breach of 2017.
Since it affected so many people, pretty much anyone with a yahoo account, there is now a class-action lawsuit in a settlement from yahoo. You can claim $100 or free credit monitoring, and you may get up to $25,000 if you can prove the breach affected you financially. The $100 is not guaranteed, and they recommend getting their free credit monitoring for two years option instead. However, if you can prove you suffered from substantial loss financially, you may get lucky and be able to get the $25,000.
This only affects those with accounts from 2012 to 2016, and if you go with the $100, you have to prove you have credit monitoring in place already. This whole situation is a part of a $117.5 million settlement that may include up to 194 million people.
What Do I Do?
So, if you had an account with Yahoo from 2012 to 2016, you should be getting an email about this lawsuit and all the information listed here. It will tell you about the lawsuit and how to apply for the $100 or free credit monitoring. It even lets you expand on what your financial losses were, with proof of course, and it will put you in the running for up to $25,000.
Keep in mind, that $100 is a “maybe you will get it” and is not a sure thing. However, if you choose the credit monitoring, you will get that for free. If you go for the $100, make sure you can prove who you are getting credit monitoring from now, and include them as a financial expense if you are paying for it.
Will This Really Keep Me Safe?
As great as free credit monitoring may be, they may use Equifax. That might not seem like a bad thing, but since Equifax was breached in 2017, it might be a good idea to be wary of using their services. So yes, it may help you; however, it may also hurt you. You need someone to monitor your online information that is out there. Just google yourself, and you will find a lot of your information posted. Google your phone number or postal address, and see what comes up.
It can be pretty scary at first to see your personal data online, and credit monitoring will just tell you when someone applies for loans, credit cards, etc. under your name. It is not the best option for you to take; however, it can be somewhat useful to see if anyone is stealing your information.
But once your personal data is online for all to see, how do you get rid of it? Credit monitoring will not remove your personal data; it will just ping you when an unexpected hit to your credit report happens.
How Do I Get Rid Of My Data?
It may seem like a daunting task, getting all of your personal information removed. It is daunting, and near impossible to do. Once some of your information gets removed, more will pop up. It is a never-ending cycle! However, there are services out there than can remove your personal information and monitor it for when it pops up again, so they can remove it again.
But who does this kind of service? Wiperts.com does! They are an excellent data removal service with years of experience. They find the specific information you have requested, and they remove it. Then they monitor that information and remove it when found again. You can specify what places are allowed to have this personal information and let them know what you do not want removed and what you do want removed.
This can be a lot more useful compared to credit monitoring because you have to go through the process of removing your information even with credit monitoring. But with Wiperts.com, they do it for you! This can save you a lot of time and hassle by letting them do it for you.
Conclusion
This is a dangerous time to be online, with information being spread rampantly and data breaches happening all over the internet. A data breach is imminent, so you should use Wipert.com’s services to get your data removed ASAP. Stay safe online; use Wiperts today!
