Equifax is waiving credit freeze fees for 30 days

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Following the Equifax data breach that has potentially exposed the personal information of 143 million Americans, money expert Clark Howard is urging everyone to freeze their credit.

Many people have said Equifax should pay for security freezes because the credit reporting agency created this giant mess.

Equifax temporarily drops credit freeze fees

Read more: Equifax hack: 5 things to expect when you freeze your credit

Now, several tweets from Equifax’s account confirm that the company will waive the fees for placing and removing security freezes, at least for the next 30 days:

“As of 9/9, we’re waiving charges for placing & removing a security freeze on an Equifax credit file in the enrollment period for the free credit file monitoring & identity theft protection service we’re offering to U.S. consumers. We’re also refunding any fees consumers may have paid since Thursday night to place a security freeze on their Equifax credit file.”

What happens after 30 days? We’ll have to wait and see. Clark said on the radio show that he would like to see Equifax pay for these fees over the long haul.

“I hope as the lawsuits come up with Equifax that one of the things they’re forced to do is reimburse all of us for the cost of credit freezes and thaws that we have to do for the rest of our lives,” Clark said.

Equifax’s data breach website doesn’t have any additional details on the fee waiver, as of Tuesday afternoon.

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It’s important to point out that placing a credit freeze with Equifax isn’t enough. You will still likely need to pay a few bucks to complete the process with Experian and TransUnion.

I was able to freeze my credit with all three bureaus in 17 minutes using Clark’s step-by-step guide.

Read more: Credit Freeze Guide: The best way to protect yourself against identity theft

Listen: Clark answers your questions about the Equifax hack

If you have specific questions about the Equifax breach and how it may impact you, contact Clark’s Consumer Action Center — a FREE help line open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. EST with volunteers available to answer YOUR concerns! Call Team Clark @ 404-892-8227.

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