Scam of the Day – June 10, 2025 – Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Data Breach Class Action Settled

by | Jun 9, 2025 | Scam of the day

In the Scam of the day for June 14, 2023 I told you that health insurance company Harvard Pilgrim disclosed that it had suffered a major data breach and ransomware attack affecting more than 2.5 million people.  This particular data breach is quite serious because among the records compromised were Social Security numbers and medical histories.  Now a class action on behalf of the victims of the data breach has been settled and people affected by the data breach can claim up to $2,500 for out of pocket costs related to the data breach or, instead of instead of filing a claim for out of pocket losses, may file a claim for a cash payment of $150.  All class members can also receive three years of free credit monitoring including dark web scanning.  A hearing to obtain court approval of the settlement is scheduled for July 28, 2025 and the deadline for filng a claim is August 25, 2025.  Here is a link to the class action website where you can file a claim if you were a victim of the data breach. https://www.harvardpilgrimdataincidentsettlement.com/

As I have reminded you many times, we are only as safe and secure as the security of the companies, government agencies and websites that have our personal information.  Even if you are extremely diligent in protecting your personal information, you can be in danger of identity theft and scams if your personal information falls into the hands of hackers.

So what can you do to protect yourself from these data breaches that will be occurring?

TIPS

One important lesson is to limit the amount of personal information that you provide to companies and websites whenever possible.  For example, your doctor doesn’t need your Social Security number for his or her records.

You should make sure that you have a unique password for each of your online accounts so that if one of your passwords is compromised in a data breach, all of your accounts will not be in danger.  If your information is compromised in a data breach, you should immediately change the password for that account.

If you have not already done so, set up dual factor authentication for each of you accounts where it is available. This will protect you from having those accounts stolen by someone who may have access to your password.

Freezing your credit is also something everyone should do.  It is free and easy to do.  In addition, 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:
Finally, there is no cost to file a claim in this class action settlement.  If you receive an email, text message, letter or phone call that asks for a payment to be eligible for a payment or asks for personal information such as your Social Security number, it is a scammer contacting you.  The safest option is to use the class action settlement website to file any claim.

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