T-Mobile Data Breach
I don’t know all of my clients that have T-Mobile so I am going to make a general announcement in the weekly newsletter later. However, I know you have T-Mobile.
Per reports I read in multiple sources like this Bloomberg article….
TMobile’s entire customer database has been breached by hackers!! 100 million people. The data discovered included full names, social security numbers and driver’s license numbers. This is disgusting. This information should have been stored in an encrypted fashion.
My Thoughts
– I don’t think I’m going to leave T-Mobile tomorrow. This could have happened to Verizon or AT&T as well, in theory. They could have better security, but I don’t know.
– I don’t apply for credit all the time, so more often than not, I keep my credit reports frozen. No one can open up accounts with the freeze in place. If you do have your credit run often, you may want to consider a FRAUD ALERT instead, which will require your permission before lines of credit are opened.
– I assume T-Mobile will be providing its customers with a couple of years of some credit monitoring service. That may be worth using, but keep in mind that during this pandemic annualcreditreport.com is offering all 3 credit reports free on a weekly basis. https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action — this website is the only one authorized by the federal government for obtaining free credit reports. (The one on TV with that hideous jingle is NOT the same website.)
Websites for setting up credit freezes
https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze
https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/
The Acronym Online 