Scam of the day – July 27, 2025 – Massive Data Breach at Allianz Life

by | Jul 26, 2025 | Scam of the day

I have been writing a lot recently about data breaches which is not really surprising since last year alone there were 9,478 publicly disclosed data breaches exposing over more than 35.9 billion records globally and 2025 appears to be on its way to a record number of data breaches.  Data breaches are an unfortunate fact of life for all of us and can readily lead to identity theft and other harm.

The most recent data breach involves Allianz Life, a major insurance company.  Yesterday they confirmed that they suffered a data breach on July 16th due to a supply chain attack, which is when the cybercriminals target a company used by their real target to steal information. In this case the cybercriminals were able to access a database of personal information of a majority its customers, financial professionals and Allianz employees.  In the United States alone, Alianz Life has 1.4 million customers.  Like many recent data breaches, this was not a result of a sophisticated computer hacking, but rather done through social engineering which occurs when the cybercriminals contact a targeted company and pose as employees and convince helpdesks at targeted companies to provide  computer access to the cybercriminals.  The massive data breaches done by the group Scattered Spider in recent years have been effectively done through social engineering.

TIPS

Potential victims of this data breach should  freeze their credit if they have not already done so.  Freezing your credit is actually 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:

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.
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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