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Sensitive personal information of 143 million people has been stolen from Equifax, the credit reporting agency announced on Thursday.。

From mid-May through July of this year, cyber criminals where able to access the personal information of its customers, including social security numbers and drivers license numbers.  。

The affected number, 143 million, is equal to about 44 percent of the U.S. population. 。

SEE ALSO:How to tell if you're one of the 143 million Americans affected by the Equifax hack。

"Criminals exploited a U.S. website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files," the company said in a news release about the incident.
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The perpetrators also had access to names, birth dates, addresses, and more, including the credit card numbers for around 209,000 people. Perpetrators also accessed information for some residents of Canada and the United Kingdom.。

"This is clearly a disappointing event for our company, and one that strikes at the heart of who we are and what we do," Equifax CEO Richard Smith said in the release. "I apologize to consumers and our business customers for the concern and frustration this causes."。

A Bloomberg reporter tweeted that three Equifax executives sold stock in the company before Thursday's release.。

A Bloomberg reporter tweeted that three Equifax executives sold stock in the company before Thursday's release.。

Tweet may have been deleted
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Equifax is asking consumers to visit equifaxsecurity2017年.com to figure out if their information might've been seen by folks with bad intentions, though volunteering your information to a company that has proven incapable of taking care of it is giving people a ... queasy feeling.。

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Equifax needs my social security number to check if someone stole my social security number. Head explodes. 。

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— Christina Wilkie (christinawilkie) September 7, 2017
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— Christina Wilkie (christinawilkie) September 7, 2017 。

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