St. Louis treasurer's office offering help amid Equifax, Capital One data breaches

credit card and money

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) — For help accessing $125 or more as part of the Equifax data breach settlement, you can call the St. Louis City Treasurer’s Office of Financial Empowerment.

Related: How to navigate the Equifax data breach settlement offer

It was recently reported that hundreds of millions of Americans have had their personal information compromised in major security breaches at Equifax and CapitalOne.

Related: Q&A: What to know about the Capital One data breach

The City of St. Louis advises residents to act now to protect themselves.

Here are four things the Treasurer's Office advises people to do today — or contact the Treasurer’s Office of Financial Empowerment for help:

  1. Set up credit monitoring with Credit Karma or similar tools through your bank/credit union.
  2. Freeze your three credit reports here: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
  3. Change your password at Capital One or your financial institution.
  4. File a claim with Experian if you want settlement benefits of $125 or more.

For assistance, contact Reginald Garth at (314) 613-3196 or reginald.garth@operationhope.org. He is available for walk-in appointments on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 - 11 a.m. or 2 - 4 p.m. in City Hall Room 220.

“Credit is like the doctor: you need an annual checkup to avoid mistakes and stay healthy—financially,” said Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones. “A credit check-up is available for free at the Office of Financial Empowerment.”

The Office of Financial Empowerment also offers free money management courses and 1-on-1 counseling.

Visit stlofe.org or call (314) 622-4700.

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