Your stolen SSN can be used to open fraudulent credit card accounts, divert or fraudulently collect benefits and commit workplace fraud, among other forms of deceit. Social Security numbers are widely used by the federal government, banks, investment companies, government benefit programs and insurers to verify identity. Those whose data were exposed face greater risks of identity theft, phishing scams and other forms of fraud, Krebs warned. But that doesn’t mean you should just shrug off what happened. There have been so many data breaches at so many companies over the years, some security experts say that much of the information exposed by T-Mobile is probably already available on the dark web.
Hackers claim to have stolen 70 million Social Security numbers from AT&T days after massive T-Mobile breach. Hackers steal even more Social Security numbers. Hackers started offering the data for sale last weekend, according to security researcher Brian Krebs, who predicted that it would all wind up online soon. In most cases, the company said, “no phone numbers, account numbers,, passwords, or financial information were compromised.” However, some 850,000 customers with prepaid accounts had their names, phone numbers and account PINs exposed, T-Mobile revealed.
What information was taken?Īccording to the company, the stolen data included names, birth dates, Social Security numbers and driver’s license information. Here is a breakdown of what happened, the risks you might face and how you can protect yourself against them. This time, the haul included sensitive personal information associated with about 48 million people, most of whom were former or prospective customers of the self-styled “ un-carrier.” The senator also filed an incident report to the National Bureau of Investigation.Hackers have found their way again into T-Mobile’s systems, the fourth reported breach of the company’s data since early 2020. The bank immediately cut Gatchalian's credit card after receiving a report from him.
Under the senator's proposed bill, individuals who would avail of prepaid sim cards must present a valid ID and photo and sign a control-numbered registration form issued by the service provider of the purchased SIM card.Ĭopies of the signed forms will be submitted to the service provider and the National Telecommunications Commission.Įarlier this month, Gatchalian discovered that a hacker accessed his credit card and purchased P1-million worth of liquor online. There had been countless cases of online fraudsters who used unregistered mobile numbers,” he added. “The boundless stream of supply of prepaid SIM cards has become a magnet of illicit activities since the start of the pandemic.
“When fraudsters gain access to OTPs (One-Time Passwords), it’s as if they’re the actual owners of the account doing the transaction,” he said. Gatchalian, who filed a bill mandating such registration, has recently been a victim of credit card hacking after someone changed the mobile number that was linked to his account. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Thursday said the registration of prepaid sim cards in the country would help authorities easily track down perpetrators of illegal activities.