Scam of the day – March 24, 2025 – T-Mobile Data Breach Settlement Update

by | Mar 23, 2025 | Scam of the day

In August of 2021 I reported to you about  a data breach at T-Mobile initially discovered when hackers started offering  for sale on the Dark Web data of what they said was 100 million customers of phone carrier T-Mobile for sale.  T- Mobile confirmed the data breach but said that the number of people affected was approximately 76 million people.   The information being sold included names, phone numbers, Social Security numbers and addresses.  Also being sold were the PINS used by some T-Mobile customers to protect their accounts from identity theft that now are in the hands of hackers.  This type of information poses a tremendous threat to victims of the data breach, which is the sixth for T-Mobile in the last four years.  Social Security numbers in particular can be used by identity thieves to apply for credit cards and loans in your name.  In addition, the phone numbers and the fact that the victims of the data breach are known to be T-Mobile customers enables the hackers to create phony phishing text messages, called smishing, posing as T-Mobile and luring the targeted victim into clicking on a link in the text message that can download destructive malware.

A class action on behalf of victims of the data breach was settled, following which, T-Mobile sent notices to affected customers.  If you believe you may have been affected and did not receive such a notice, you can call the settlement administrator at 1-833-512-2314 or go to the official settlement website

Affected customers can make claims for the cost of out-of-pocket expenses incurred due to the breach.  In addition, there is a small cash payment to everyone affected and T-Mobile is also offering free credit monitoring services for two years.

TIPS

So what do you do if you are a T-Mobile customer who may be affected by this latest data breach.  Perhaps the first thing you should do is something you should have already done, but as the Chinese proverb says, “the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago, the second best time is now.”  Freeze your credit at each of the three major credit reporting bureaus.

Here are links to each of them with instructions about how to get a credit freeze:
You also should change your T-Mobile password and security PIN as soon as possible.
I would also advise you to take advantage of the offer of free identity theft services from T- Mobile.
Finally, you should be particularly cognizant of not clicking on links in text messages (and emails as well) unless you have absolutely confirmed that the text message or email is legitimate.  Scammers posing as T-Mobile are contacting victims of the data breach offering assistance, but are really looking to get you to click on a link that will download malware.

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