Scam of the day – May 9, 2025 – Major Data Breach Affects 4 Million People

by | May 8, 2025 | Scam of the day

Last month I told you that Verizon had issued its annual data breach report which appears to exemplify my motto that “things aren’t as bad as you think, they are far worse.”  Regardless of how diligent you are in protecting your personal information such as your Social Security number, you are only as safe as the myriad of companies, institutions and government agencies with the worse and most vulnerable security practices that have your personal information.  The report confirmed 12,195 data breaches last year, an increase of 34% over the previous year.

Data breaches continue to be a major problem for all of us with more than 1.35 billion people affected in 2024.  Recently, Verisource Services a major provider of HR outsourcing and employee benefits adminstration announced that the total people affected by a data breach at the company is approximately 4 million people.  This data breach was first discovered in February of 2024 and it took the company until April 17, 2025 to complete its digital forensic investigation which indicated that the amount of people who were affected by the data breach was much more than had been originally thought.  In May of 2024 Verisource notified 55,00 people that they had been affected and then 112,000 additional victims were notified in September of 2024, but now Verisource is  quite belatedly notifying up to 4 million people that their information including their Social Security numbers was compromised putting them in serious danger of identity theft.

TIPS

One of the best things you can do to protect yourself from data breaches is to not provide your Social Security number to every company that asks for it as an identifier.  Your doctor has no need for your Social Security number so whenever possible refuse to provide it.

Freezing your credit is actually something everyone should do.  It is free and easy to do.  It protects you from someone using your identity to obtain loans or make large purchases even if they have your Social Security number.  If you have not already done so, put a credit freeze on your credit reports at all of the major credit reporting agencies.  Here are links to each of them with instructions about how to get a credit freeze:

Everyone also should monitor their credit reports regularly for indications of identity theft.  The three major credit reporting agencies now provide free weekly access to your credit reports so you can monitor your credit reports easily on your own.  Here is the only link to use to get your free credit reports.https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action
Some scammers have websites that appear to offer “free” credit reports, but if you read the fine print, you often may find that you have signed up for unnecessary services.
Victims of the data breach should monitor their credit card statements closely (as we all should do anyway) for indications of credit card fraud.
You also may want to check out https://haveibeenpwned.com/ where you can find out what data breaches have affected you.
Finally, be wary of anyone who calls you purporting to help you in regard to the data breach who  asks for personal information in regard to this data breach as that is a favorite tactic of hackers to lure you into providing additional personal information that can lead to your becoming a victim of identity theft.  Also, as always, never click on a link or download an attachment to an email or text message unless you have absolutely confirmed that it is legitimate and don’t provide personal information in response to an email, text message or phone call unless you have absolutely confirmed that the communication was legitimate.

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