1.2 Million Nevadans Affected by the Equifax Data Breach

​The Nevada Attorney General’s Office announced that at least 1.2 million Nevadans have been affected by the Equifax data breach. Many of those Nevada consumers reside here in Las Vegas and Henderson. 

As discussed in previous posts, it is imperative for Las Vegas and Henderson consumers to obtain a copy of their most recent credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union and to review those reports for fraudulent information and errors. I also suggest considering credit freezes and fraud alerts to reduce dramatically the chance of identity theft in the future.

If you find fraudulent information on your credit reports, you should obtain a police report and fill out an FTC Identity Theft Victim’s Complaint and Affidavit. These documents, along with proof of identity, should be sent to each bureau via certified mail. The bureaus have four business days to block the fraudulent information and 30 days to investigate the matter with the lenders and creditors and to provide you a corrected report.

If the bureaus and lenders fail to update your information within 30 days, you have a legal claim against each party in which your attorney’s fees and costs are covered if you prevail. Additionally, you are entitled to a corrected credit report, statutory damages of up to $1,000, and possible actual and punitive damages.