Hi all,

If you have received a letter or email from Origin Energy about the recent customer data breach, you may also have been offered a free 12-month subscription to Equifax Protect.

I have been through the sign-up process myself, so I wanted to share a plain-English summary of what it does, what to expect, and whether I think it is worth using.

What happened?

Origin Energy has confirmed a customer data security incident involving unauthorised access to some customer information. Origin has also said it is offering affected customers support through IDCARE and a 12-month subscription to Equifax Protect, a credit and identity monitoring service.

You can read Origin’s own update here: Origin Energy customer data security incident

What is Equifax Protect?

Equifax Protect is a monitoring service that watches for certain types of credit and identity activity linked to your personal details.

Once set up, it can provide:

• Credit alerts if someone applies for credit using your details.
• Identity alerts if your information appears in places that may indicate misuse.
• Monthly credit reports.
• Credit score and credit rating information.
• Some optional extras and upsells, depending on what you choose during the sign-up process.

The most useful part is the alerting. If someone tries to take out credit in your name, you should receive an email alert so you can act quickly.

How did I request the promo code for Equifax Protect?

I sent the following message to [email protected] with the title of ‘Request for an Equifax promo code’.

I recently received an email from you saying that I have been impacted by a data security incident and that you are offering a 12-month subscription to Equifax Protect.

Please supply me with the promo code for that service.

What is the sign-up process like?

I requested the promo code from Origin. It took a couple of days to arrive by email, but the process was not too difficult.