Scam of the day – May 25, 2025 – Massive Data Breach of 184 Million Accounts Discovered

by | May 24, 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 worst 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.

Security researcher Jeremiah Fowler recently discovered a publicly available, unencrypted database containing 184 million unque account credentials including usernames, passwords, and URLs for many apps and websites including Google, Miocrosoft, Apple, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat including credentials for bank and financial accounts.  One particular problem Fowler noted is that many people use their email accounts to store years of sensitive documnts such as tax returns which if their email accounts are accessed can quickly lead to identity theft.

TIPS

This is a good time to remind everyone to make sure you use strong, unique passwords for each of your online accounts and enable dual factor authentication so that even if a cybercriminal has your user name and password, he or she would not be able to access your account.

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.
You also may want to check out https://haveibeenpwned.com/ where you can find out what data breaches have affected you.

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