Free credit monitoring available for some Optus customers

But is it enough?

This story was originally published on WhistleOut Australia.

By Alex Choros

Sep 27, 2022

1 min read

Optus will offer current and former customers "most affected" by the data breach a 12-month free subscription to credit monitoring and identity protection service Equifax Protect.

While Optus didn't specify the parameters for "most affected", we can presume that all customers who had identification documents such as passport numbers or driver's licenses exposed will be part of this group.

Optus will be getting in touch with these customers with information on how to start the Equifax subscription over the coming days. The telco says these communications will not include links. If you get an email or SMS purporting to be from Optus with a link, do not click - it's a scam.

Equifax Credit & Identity Protect is valued at $14.95 per month, and includes a credit report each month, alerts for changes to your report, dark web monitoring, and document expiry alerts.

Optus says it has now contacted all customers who had identification documents compromised as part of the breach. It is now reaching out to customers who had other details, such as their email address, exposed.

Written by

Alex Choros

Alex Choros is the Group Reviews Editor for Clearlink Australia's local websites - Reviews.org, Safewise, and WhistleOut - and the Managing Editor for WhistleOut Australia. He's been writing about consumer technology for over eight years and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. He also contributes to Gizmodo and Lifehacker, and makes regular appearances on 2GB. Outside of tech, Alex loves long hikes, red wine, and death metal.