Iowa’s Attorney General, Tom Miller, continues to advocate for the state’s residents as he recently joined a bipartisan group of other state attorneys in requesting that Experian and TransUnion wave credit freeze-related fees following the recent Equifax data breach, affecting nearly half of all consumers nationwide. “We have heard from our consumers that they are outraged that they should have to pay a company with which they do not choose to do business in order to protect themselves from identity theft as a result of a breach that was not their fault,” the attorneys general from 36 states and the District of Columbia wrote. “The crisis in confidence extends to the entire credit reporting industry,” they add. The Sept. 7 Equifax breach is estimated to have affected 143 million consumers, including 1.1 million Iowans. The compromised information includes names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and, in some cases, credit card and driver’s license data. Financial experts have advised consumers that the best way to protect themselves is to place credit freezes with all three of the major credit reporting agencies.
