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Attorney General William Tong

03/02/2022

Attorney General Tong Joins Fellow AGs in Alerting Consumers Impacted by the Massive 2021 T-Mobile Data Breach to Take Steps to Protect Their Personal Information

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General Tong urges all Connecticut residents who believe they were impacted by the data breach announced by T-Mobile in August 2021 to take appropriate steps to protect their information from identity theft.

On August 17th, T-Mobile reported a massive data breach compromising the sensitive personal information of millions of current, former, and prospective T-Mobile customers. The breach impacted more than 53 million individuals, including more than half a million Connecticut residents. Among other categories of impacted information, millions had their names, dates of birth, Social Security Numbers, and driver’s license information compromised.

Recently, a large subset of the information compromised in the breach was 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.

“Connecticut residents impacted by the T-Mobile breach need to take steps to protect themselves if they have not done so already,” stressed Attorney General Tong. “If you received a notice or alert informing you that you were impacted, don’t dismiss it just because you were not a T-Mobile customer at the time of the breach—or even if you never have been a T-Mobile customer. More than 40 million former and prospective customers had their information compromised. Always think twice before clicking on links in unsolicited emails or text messages, but take trusted avenues to protect yourself.”

Connecticut is co-leading a multistate coalition of attorneys general investigating the breach and whether T-Mobile had appropriate safeguards in place to protect personal information. Attorney General Tong urges anyone who believes they were impacted by the 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:

  • 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—or contact the Attorney General’s Office for help.

Twitter: @AGWilliamTong
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Media Contact:

Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov

Consumer Inquiries:

860-808-5318
attorney.general@ct.gov