T-Mobile Hackers Get Information On Over 50 Million People
Hackers Get Clients Information On T-Mobile
In mid-August, 2021, T-Mobile shared details about the data breach confirmed earlier this month. Assorted data from over 50 million people, 2 million more than initial reports, was compromised, less than the 100 million announced by the hacker(s).
Millions of T-Mobile customers’ information were reportedly exposed in a cybersecurity incident.
What Happened?
Sensitive data of 47.8 million current, former, or prospective T-Mobile customers is reportedly for sale on the “black web”. This information includes Social Security numbers, dates of birth, customer names, and driver’s license details. Additionally, this included 850,000 “prepaid customers,” who fund their accounts in advance, had their names, phone numbers, and PINs exposed.
The vast majority of active customers appear not to have had their phone numbers, account numbers, passwords, or financial information taken in the breach – the majority were former customers and many prospective customers who had applied for credit with T-Mobile.
T-Mobile has implemented precautions on behalf of victims, including offering two years of identity protection services from McAfee’s ID Theft Protection Service, and it has already reset the PINs of the nearly one million prepaid customers who had theirs exposed.
What Should You Do?
- Be on the lookout for phishing emails that may appear to come from a trusted source. Remember, you can look at the sender’s details – specifically the part of the email address after the ‘@’ symbol – in the ‘From’ line to see if it looks legitimate. An email from @chase.abc.com is probably a phishing scam
- Update your profile’s passwords, and not just your phone or personal computer. A different password for each account is highly recommended. Your office network can be even more susceptible to hacking – one compromised computer or a shared email can create havoc.
