Press Release
Consumers Impacted by T-Mobile Breach Urged To Take Steps to Protect Against Identity Theft
March 2, 2022
(Anchorage, AK) – Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor encouraged Alaska consumers who may have been impacted by the August 2021 T-Mobile data breach to be sure to take action to protect themselves against identity theft. The Attorney General’s reminder comes as authorities learned that some of the stolen data is being sold by criminals online.
T-Mobile reported a massive data breach on Aug 17, 2021, that impacted more than 53 million people, including more than 28,000 Alaskans. Sensitive data including dates of birth, Social Security numbers and driver’s license information were compromised in the breach.
A large subset of that information was recently discovered for sale on the dark web—a hidden portion of the Internet where cyber criminals buy, sell, and track personal information. Many individuals have since received alerts through various identity theft protection services informing them that their information was found online in connection with the breach, confirming that impacted individuals are at heightened risk for identity theft.
“Consumers who have received notice that their information may have been compromised should take steps now to decrease the risk of identity theft,” Attorney General Taylor said. “This breach affected both former and prospective T-Mobile customers, so even those who aren’t T-Mobile customers currently should pay attention and take action. And in our current climate, it never hurts for all of us to take the steps needed to safeguard our personal information.”
Attorney General Taylor urges anyone who believes they were impacted by the T-Mobile breach to take the following steps to protect themselves:
- Monitor your credit. Credit monitoring services track your credit report and alert you whenever a change is made, such as a new account or a large purchase. Most services will notify you within 24 hours of any change to your credit report.
- Consider placing a free credit freeze on your credit report. Identity thieves will not be able to open a new credit account in your name while the freeze is in place. You can place a credit freeze by contacting each of the three major credit bureaus:
- Equifax | https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/
+1 (888) 766-0008 - Experian | https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
+1 (888) 397-3742 - TransUnion | https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze
+1 (800) 680-7289
- Equifax | https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/
- Place a fraud alert on your credit report. A fraud alert tells lenders and creditors to take extra steps to verify your identity before issuing credit. You can place a fraud alert by contacting any one of the three major credit bureaus.
- Additional Resources. If you believe you are a victim of identity theft, go to identitytheft.gov for assistance on how to report it and recover from it.
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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.