The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) and Attorney General Josh Kaul urge all Wisconsin residents who believe they were impacted by the data breach announced by T-Mobile in August 2021 to take appropriate steps to protect their information from identity theft.
On August 17th, T-Mobile reported a massive data breach compromising the sensitive personal information of millions of current, former, and prospective T-Mobile customers. The breach impacted more than 53 million individuals, including 434,555 Wisconsin residents. Among other categories of impacted information, millions had their names, dates of birth, Social Security Numbers, and driver’s license information compromised.
Recently, a large subset of the information compromised in the breach was for sale on the dark web—a hidden portion of the Internet where cyber criminals buy, sell, and track personal information. Many individuals have since received alerts through various identity theft protection services informing them that their information was found online in connection with the breach, confirming that impacted individuals are at heightened risk for identity theft.
“Hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites have been impacted by this data breach,” said Attorney General Kaul. “I encourage everyone who may have been impacted to take steps to help protect themselves and prevent potential identity theft.”
“DATCP is concerned about the impact of the T-Mobile breach on Wisconsin consumers,” said DATCP Secretary Randy Romanski. “We urge people to take immediate steps to determine whether you have been a victim of ID theft and to take measures to protect your identity.”
Anyone who believes they were impacted by the T-Mobile breach should take the following steps to protect themselves:
- Monitor your credit. Credit monitoring services track your credit report and alert you whenever a change is made, such as a new account or a large purchase. Most services will notify you within 24 hours of any change to your credit report.
- Consider placing a free credit freeze on your credit report. Identity thieves will not be able to open a new credit account in your name while the freeze is in place. You can place a credit freeze by contacting each of the three major credit bureaus:
- Equifax | https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/ +1 (888) 766-0008
- Experian | https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html +1 (888) 397-3742
- TransUnion | https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze +1 (800) 680-7289
- Place a fraud alert on your credit report. A fraud alert tells lenders and creditors to take extra steps to verify your identity before issuing credit. You can place a fraud alert by contacting any one of the three major credit bureaus.
- Additional Resources: For additional information or to file a complaint, visit the DATCP’s Consumer Protection Bureau at datcp.wi.gov, send an e-mail to [email protected], or call the Wisconsin Consumer Protection Hotline toll-free at (800) 422-7128. You may also go to identitytheft.gov for assistance on how to report and recover from suspected identity theft.
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