Experian Hack, T-Mobile Loan Applicant Data Theft [updated]
Credit and marketing firm Experian announced today that it has been the victim of a data breach that has affected nearly 15 million US consumers. This includes any T-Mobile customer or prospect who has passed a credit check to pay for services or devices.
According to Experian , T-Mobile customers who applied for postpaid services or device funding between September 1, 2013 and September 16, 2015 may have their personal information stolen. This information includes names, dates of birth, addresses, and social security numbers (or alternative forms of identification such as a driver’s license), as well as other information that may have been used to assess T-Mobile’s creditworthiness. While most of this information is likely encrypted, Experian told T-Mobile that this encryption may have been compromised. Experian notes that as far as they know, no information about payment cards or banks has been received.
Even though payment details have not been stolen, T-Mobile customers should keep a close eye on this. While the hack was on Experian’s side, T-Mobile still offers two years of free credit monitoring and identity resolution services to anyone who applied for a loan from T-Mobile. We’ll update this post if and when we get more information.
Update: A T-Mobile spokesperson told us that this violation affects not only current T-Mobile customers who have applied for a loan, but all loan applicants, current customers or not. This means that if you applied for a service or device funding using the T-Mobile version from September 1, 2013 to September 16, 2015, you may be affected even if you are not currently a T-Mobile customer. In addition, free credit monitoring is available to anyone who may have been harmed, not just current clients. The article has been revised to reflect this new information.
Experian Notifies US Consumers Who May Be Affected by Unauthorized Retrieval of Customer Data | PR Newswire