AT&T announced a data breach in late March 2024. The company discovered that a dataset containing personal information of both current and former AT&T customers had been released on the dark web.
To put this in perspective, approximately 7.6 million current AT&T account holders and approximately 65.4 million former account holders are impacted by this data breach.
As a remedy for customers, AT&T is offering affected customers one year of complimentary Experian’s IdentityWorks credit monitoring service that customers must enroll in by August 30, 2024.
The credit monitoring features include:
- Identity theft detection and resolution services
- An insurance policy of up to $1 million in coverage in the event of identity theft
- Access to an identity restoration team
Credit monitoring can help you catch identity theft or fraud early on, before it causes significant damage.
Is Experian’s IdentityWorks enough to combat the dark web?
The customer information leaked on the dark web includes:
- Access to customers’ full name
- Email address
- Mailing address
- Phone number
- Social Security number
- Date of birth
- AT&T account number and passcode
Experian’s IdentityWorks includes dark web surveillance by daily scans of over 600,000 web pages to detect if your info is stolen. But is this enough to protect your information?
Here are several actions thieves can take using your information from the dark web:
Courtesy of LifeLock
Steps you can take to further protect your information
Review your credit reports. Get one free copy each week from the three major reporting agencies to watch for signs of potential fraud.
Freeze your credit reports. Freezing a credit report means you cannot open a new credit account while it’s in effect. The freeze stays in place until the person lifts it.. It’s a fairly simple process to freeze, unfreeze and refreeze your credit reports if you need to apply for credit.
File an Identity Theft Report. If your identity has been compromised, immediately file an identity theft report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). An identity theft report is a formal complaint detailing how your personal information was misused by someone else. Victims of identity theft can use this report to dispute fraudulent charges, close compromised accounts, and correct credit reports.
Consider LifeLock services. LifeLock is a paid service offering several of the same services Experian IdentityWorks has for free if you are an AT&T customer. However, LifeLock can help you take swift preventative action if your data is discovered on the dark web, and ensure you have protections in place to help recover from identity theft and fraud.
Multiple class action lawsuits filed
There are currently 12 class actions filed in three different district courts nationwide with an additional 18 similar cases pending in seven other districts.
These lawsuits assert several similar allegations including AT&T was negligent in its handling of customer’s sensitive personal information by failing to adequately monitor its security measures and act in a timely manner when it discovered the breach.
On June 5, 2024, the US Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated the cases based on their basis. The panel picked the Northern District of Texas based on the Dallas location of AT&T’s headquarters.
