In the wake of last week’s data leak, where a wide range of sensitive information was revealed to be available on South African consumers, TransUnion is now offering a free identity service which will alert consumers to any critical changes on their TransUnion credit reports.
TransUnion encourages all consumers to protect their credit profile by taking advantage of the free Alerts service, which is bundled with a number of their credit report products, including the Free Annual Credit Report. This offer will be available for a limited time only. Once activated, the free Alerts service will monitor the consumer’s profile until the end of January 2018 and for no further period thereafter. The Alerts service provides a consumer updates via SMS or email on critical changes to their credit report, including enquiries and new payment profiles.
“A data breach does not necessarily result in identity theft, but there are a number of precautions you can take if you have been part of a data breach, or at any time you have reason to be concerned about your identity security,” said Lee Naik, CEO TransUnion Africa. “We are offering a complimentary Alerts service as we understand that people are concerned about identity theft and protecting their credit profile. The Alerts may show possible irregular use of your information, which can indicate that your personal information is being used fraudulently to access credit.”
Naik explains: “While identity theft can play out in a number of ways, a common modus operandi is for thieves to use the victim’s identity to purchase products and services on credit. The victims often then only find out months later once their account is far in arrears and other credit accounts have been opened in their name.”
“The Alerts service can help consumers detect identity theft earlier on, and in doing so allow them to minimise the impact of the breach. In instances such as this, knowledge truly is power and we encourage all consumers to register for the Alerts service,” Naik concludes.
Consumers can register online at transunion.co.za or via TransUnion’s call centre on 0861 482 482 to take advantage of the limited free Alerts offering today.
