Today, credit reporting and marketing company Experian announced they were the victim of a data breach that affects approximately 15 million U.S. consumers. This includes any T-Mobile customer, or potential customer, who went through a credit check for service or device financing.
According to Experian’s statement, T-Mobile customers who applied for postpaid services or device financing from September 1, 2013 through September 16, 2015 may have had their personally identifiable information stolen. This information includes names, dates of birth, addresses, and Social Security numbers (or alternate forms of ID like drivers’ licenses), as well as other information that may have been used in T-Mobile’s credit assessment. While most of that information is likely encrypted, Experian told T-Mobile that this encryption may have been compromised. Experian notes that no payment card or banking information was acquired as far as they know.
Though no payment data was believed to be stolen, T-Mobile customers should keep a close eye on things. While the breach was on Experian’s end, T-Mobile is still offering two years of free credit monitoring and identity resolution services for anyone who applied for credit with T-Mobile. We’ll update this post if and when we get more information.
Update: A T-Mobile rep has informed us that this breach not only affects current T-Mobile customers who have applied for credit, but all credit applicants, current customer or not. That means if you applied for service or device financing with T-Mobile between September 1, 2013 and September 16, 2015, you may be affected even if you’re not currently a T-Mobile customer. Additionally, the free credit monitoring is available to anyone who may have been affected, not just current customers. The article has been adjusted to reflect this new information.
Experian Notifies Consumers In the U.S. Who May Have Been Affected by Unauthorized Acquisition of a Client’s Data | PR Newswire