ID theft question--

[kita]

I received a lovely letter from a company I had dealt with on a OLD student loan. The loan is paid off and I haven't heard boo from the company (ECMC) for a few years.
The letter states that my information was part of a data theft. 3.3 million customers had their SS numbers, date of birth etc taken. NO bank info, thankfully.
One of the things they are offering is a12 months of "Triple Alert"--an id theft company. I don't know if I should take it.
Also what really ticks me off is that my mom and I have been angerily transperant with this company and others about my brother's student loans. "NO, I don't know where my brother is. He is homeless. He might contact us once a year. If you hear from him let us know because we want to know if he is alright."
So I'm sure because of privacy issues we can't find out if that was noted on the account. If so the thieves know that it is a date of birth/ss number that is not used very often so HE is the one more likely to a victim of true id theft and we can't do anything about it. I'm going to send him an email which he will get whenever and attach the letter.
Any suggestions?

[Libby]

Um...if they're a legit company they're not really going to make you pay to protect yourself are they? They aren't offering anything to you - as the victim - for their negligence?

Not sure what I'd do either but notify all major credit card companies or Equifax (?) and explain to them your situation and set up strict instructions that NO credit/charge cards/accounts to be opened unless you strictly authorize it. And by doing so you will call them in advance to notify them that you're going to *insert name of company here* to do so. This should apply for the bank as well.

I mean no banking info taken but that info you said that was 'stolen' can easily be used to open up accounts in your name making you liable and forcing you into debt so someone else can have a free ride. Monitor your credit score/history often. & report any suspicious hits.
Cover yer butt!

[Russ]

it is legit, although it looks like the data has been recovered.

Stolen Student Loan Data Recovered - Digits - WSJ

[Libby]

From the article that Russ posted:

UPDATE: Regarding the one year of free credit monitoring for impacted ECMC customers, the service will expire after 12 months with no action on the part of the consumer, an ECMC spokesperson says. The URL that affected ECMC customers can use to enroll should be in the letter that was mailed out. The service does not require that consumers give any payment information up front, nor will customers be enrolled in a fee-base subscription model afterward.

There ya go - free for one yr and you will not subscribed to their services. If thats the case...go for it and sign up to protect yer future credit history!

[frugalfranny]

Do SOMETHING to protect you in case the info is used for bad purposes............CYOA.......then if something 'gets through' you are in better shape to dispute it.

And do it YESTERDAY!!

[Contrary Housewife]

That sounds pretty standard for this type of situation. I've had my student data lost/stolen once and my credit card info lost once. Both times they offered free credit monitoring service. I also had a fraud alert put on my files. Nothing happened with the stolen data.

Your brother's situation is a problem he is eventually going to have to deal with when he matures. Unless you have all his account numbers I doubt you can do much about potential ID fraud.

[kita]

Thank-you everyone. I had looked online and found info on the theft, but missed the recovered story. (Probably looked just before the news broke...been mulling for a few days about this)
I didn't see that note about Triple Alert not harassing us after the 12 months is not in the letter and makes me feel much better about signing up. I'll mention the article when I sign up so I don't get telemardeters from them.