The Washington State Attorney General’s office reported that about 329,000 T-Mobile customers in Washington have been affected by a data breach at the credit-reporting company, Experian.
According to Experian, hackers gained access to data used by T-Mobile to run credit checks on individuals who applied for T-Mobile services from Sept. 1, 2013, through Sept. 16, 2015. Information exposed included name, address, birthdate, Social Security number and other ID numbers (such as driver’s license, military ID, or passport numbers).
Experian has set up this web page for T-Mobile customers to get more information about the breach.
In an email today, Attorney General Bob Ferguson said,
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Click for more informationI urge T-Mobile customers to take immediate steps to determine whether you have been a victim of ID theft, and to protect your information going forward.
The Attorney General’s Office offered the following advice to guard against identity theft.
- Monitor your credit reports. You are entitled to one free credit report every 12 months from each of the three nationwide credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and Trans Union). You can request one free report from a different bureau every four months to monitor throughout the year.
- Consider placing a “fraud alert” with each of the three credit bureaus. An alert does not block potential new credit, but places a comment on your history. Creditors should contact you prior to opening a new account.
- Consider placing a “security freeze” with each of the three credit bureaus to prohibit the release of any information from your reports. A security freeze can help prevent identity theft since most businesses will not open credit accounts without checking a consumer’s credit history first. This increases the likelihood that if an ID thief tries to open a new account under your name, they will be denied.
- Beware of unsolicited calls or emails offering credit monitoring or identity theft services. Consumers should never provide their Social Security number, credit card numbers or other personal information in response to unsolicited emails or calls.