ATLANTA, October 6, 1998 -- – Equifax today announced FraudScan^SM, a new automated tool that verifies the identity of a service applicant and sends alerts to the service provider indicating the possibility of fraud.

FraudScan combines the ability to verify components of the prospect’s identity with generation of fraud flags, providing greater flexibility in defining output criteria. The customer can then build a customized decisioning tree and receive back only the information critical to making an informed decision. This reduces the number of false positives, saving the customer time and money on investigative resources.

David Gary, Equifax senior vice president, telecommunications and utilities services, said, "Equifax is responding to a critical need for our wireless customers. In the wireless industry, approximately $500 million is lost each year to fraud. More than 60% of that fraud is committed on the service application. By stopping fraud before the service is activated, millions of dollars in lost revenue can be saved."

FraudScan checks data from customer service agreements against multiple databases. Alerts indicating the possibility of fraud are generated and sent back to the service provider with a detailed description of the flag to indicate the area(s) of concern. FraudScan also takes the applicant’s address information and places it in the correct postal format generating cost reductions by eliminating manual re-formatting of consumer data.

Tom McClure, with the Cellular Telephone Industry Association, said, "I applaud Equifax on its development of FraudScan. This is the type of tool that helps the wireless industry prevent unauthorized intrusion into our systems and our revenue streams."

EQUIFAX (NYSE: EFX) is a worldwide leader in shaping global commerce by bringing buyers and sellers together through its information, transaction processing, consulting and knowledge-based businesses. Equifax serves the banking, financial, retail, credit card, telecommunications/utilities, transportation and healthcare industries and government. Founded in 1899, Atlanta-based Equifax today has 14,000 employees in 18 countries and sales in more than 40 countries. Revenues for the 12 months ended June 30, 1998, were nearly $1.5 billion. For more Equifax information, visit the company's Internet web site at http://www.equifax.com.

Statements in this press release that relate to future plans, objectives, expectations, performance, events and the like are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Future events, risks and uncertainties, individually or in the aggregate, could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Those factors could include worldwide and U.S. economic conditions, changes in demand for the company’s products and services, risks associated with the integration of acquisitions and other investments, and other factors discussed in the "forward-looking information" section in the management’s discussion and analysis included in the company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1997.