ECMC is a guarantor of federal student loans. It has been *many moons* since I had student loans . . . however, my ex wife probably has, and I suspect the may have used my info to complete her loan, without my knowledge. Yes, she is indeed Satan's sister.
At any rate, I get a letter from ECMC today. Over 3 million records from their database have been breached, part of which included SSN, address, etc. Apparently, the suspect has been caught, no damages were incurred due to the breach.
However . . . punch line.
As a part of this breach, they have paid for, in my stead, a 12 month subscription to an [unnamed] credit reporting company for an identity theft service offering $25,000 in identity theft insurance. I checked it out, it appears legit. I went to all sites, went to the special URL in the letter, clearly says "costs you nothing" and the regular fee for this service is $14.95/month.
But, paranoia abound, I'm suspicious. Is this just a marketing ploy, am I risking more by playing into it or am I looking a gift horse in the mouth? $25K in identity theft protection is nothing to sneeze at.
Has anyone heard of this or had similar experiences (Satan's sister excepted)?
Edit: On further investigation, this definately occurred, and [unnamed] is indeed contracted for 12 free months of the identity theft alert service for affected victims.
But I have larger issues to pursue. If they have my info from my student loan circa 1983, semi-acceptable. If they have my info via other means . . . I need to find out how they got it, and if my suspicions are correct, agh, I need a lawyer.
