EFX Investor Alert: Hagens Berman Alerts Equifax Inc. Investors to Investigation into Insider Selling, Unusual Option Activity and Possible Securities Law Violations Related to Massive Data Breach

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP alerts investors in Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) to the firm's investigation into insider selling, option activity and possible securities law violations.  If you purchased or otherwise acquired securities of EFX between July 29, 2017 and September 8, 2017 and suffered losses contact Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.  For more information visit:

https://www.hbsslaw.com/cases/EFX

or contact Reed Kathrein, who is leading the firm's investigation, by calling 510-725-3000 or emailing

[email protected].

On September 7, 2017, EFX revealed that its systems were massively hacked and this event may impact nearly 143 million U.S. consumers.  This news drove the price of EFX shares sharply down during intraday trading on September 8, 2017.

The Company reported that the information accessed primarily includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver's license numbers.  In addition, credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 U.S. consumers were accessed.

EFX said it learned about the unauthorized access on July 29, 2017, but certain insiders sold significant amounts of their EFX shares before EFX publicly revealed the data breach.

The next trading day, on August 1, 2017, the Company's Chief Financial Officer sold 6,500 shares of EFX at an average price of $145.596 per share for total proceeds of $946,374.  The same day, another insider sold 4,000 shares of EFX at an average price of $146.0247 per share for total proceeds of $584,098.80.

Then, on August 2, 2017, a third insider sold 1,719 shares of EFX at an average price of $145.70 per share for total proceeds of $250,458.30.The Form 4s filed with the SEC for these insider sales do not identify the sales as executed under a 10b5-1 trading plan.

In addition, there appears to be unusual option activity in late August, which could have been prompted by inside knowledge of the security breach, and likely profited handsomely.

"We're focused on what appears to be suspiciously timed insider selling within two trading days after the Company says it discovered the breach, the option activity and why management took so long to inform investors of the breach," said Hagens Berman partner Reed Kathrein.

Whistleblowers:  Persons with non-public information regarding EFX should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program.  Under the new SEC whistleblower program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC.  For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 510-725-3000 or email [email protected].

About Hagens Berman
Hagens Berman is a national investor-rights law firm headquartered in Seattle, Washington with 11 offices across the country.  The Firm represents investors, whistleblowers, workers and consumers in complex litigation.   More about the firm and its successes can be found at www.hbsslaw.com.  For the latest news visit our newsroom or follow us on Twitter at @classactionlaw.

Contact:
Reed Kathrein, 510-725-3000

SOURCE Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP

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