LOGAN — There has been extensive reporting in recent news about data breaches, cyber security, Social Security numbers stolen, identity theft, fraud, scams, credit monitoring services, credit reports, credit scores and others. It can be tricky to navigate, so here’s the condensed version:

• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that Equifax has agreed to pay up to $700 million to settle the lawsuit from their September 2017 data breach that exposed the personal information of 147 million people.

• The FTC reminds everyone to be weary of scammers calling, emailing and setting up fake websites claiming to be related to the Equifax data breach in an attempt to get personal information and/or collect a payment.

• Capitol One announced their data breach has exposed the personal information of 106 million of its credit card customers and applicants in the U.S. and Canada.

• Scammers are calling and pretending to be the Social Security Administration telling people their Social Security number has been suspended. They then ask people to confirm their number and/or send money in order to “reactivate” it.

Whether or not anyone has been affected by a data breach or scam, they need to be proactive about monitoring their personal credit information. Now is a great time to do a credit report check, free of charge.

To do the free credit report check, visit www.annualcreditreport.com.

Here’s why it’s so important and tips for doing it:

Each person and their spouse (if applicable) are allowed one free credit report per year from each of the three credit reporting bureaus. So, to keep tabs on personal credit all year long, a person with spouse can pull one report every two months.

To do that, set reminders in a smart phone calendar to activate reminder alerts. For example, pull reports on the following schedule:

• January = Personal Experian report

• March = Spouse’s Experian report

• May = Personal Trans-union report

• July = Spouse’s Trans-union report

• September = Personal Equifax report

• November = Spouse’s Equifax report

This method can help in the effort to keep tabs on personal and shared accounts, monitor for fraud and correct any errors.

Keep in mind – the data breaches are a frenzy for scammers who will call, text, email and create fake websites pretending to be credit monitoring companies that can help “protect you” for a fee.

Just remember, a legitimate site will not ask for a credit card number or a person’s full Social Security number.

Equifax will ask for the last six digits of the social security number and the person’s last name to tell whether or not personal information was compromised.

If personal information was compromised, then sign up for free credit monitoring available to victims of these data breaches.

Also know that the government will never call anyone to ask them to confirm their Social Security number. If anyone is contacted and asked, hang up and report it to the FTC at www.ftc.gov/complaint.

For more information, visit www.ftc.gov and www.ftc.gov/equifax.