Hackers target Anthem for customers’ personal info
Do you have your health insurance coverage through Anthem? If so, it’s possible that hackers have been able to see your Social Security number, birth date, address, phone numbers, email addresses, employment information and other personal information.
The company announced recently that it became a victim of a massive data breach in which hackers broke into servers and stole the personal information belonging to as many as 80 million current and former members, as well as Anthem employees.
This type of thing happens now and then with large companies, despite how much money they devote to security measures. But the normal procedure in these cases is for the hacked company to notify its customers as quickly as possible that their personal information may have been compromised.
In this case, the attorneys general of a number of states across the nation claimed that Anthem failed to do so. In a letter sent to Anthem, the attorneys general expressed “alarm” at Anthem’s failure to follow up with customers impacted by the hack. One attorney general said that his office had been “flooded” with calls from Anthem customers who were frustrated by the lack of information they’d received from Anthem.
Of course, the biggest concern for Anthem customers is that they could become victims themselves – of identity theft. Having one’s identity stolen can be a huge problem…one that can have negative effects for years to come. At the very least, people want to get a head start on dealing with potential identity theft, which is difficult when the company that was hacked fails to communicate with you.
Have you ever had your personal information compromised or your identity stolen? Please let me know the details of that situation.
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When Social Security first started, your SS# was NEVER to be used for identification!!! Here we are, asked for it constantly, and then it’s hacked! Yes, I was a victim of Anthem’s lackadaisical security. A one year “protection” should be a lifetime protection…..free of charge! (yeah, like that would ever happen!) We are all exposed, and there is nothing we can do about it. Maybe the govt. should issue us all new numbers, and then stick to the original concept……that it would never be used for identification!!! …..and then go after the companies that don’t upgrade their security systems that allow all this hacking! Since the Target fiasco, this is (unfortunately) becoming very common place!
Someone tried to use my credit card number right after I had left a local gas station on my way to work. When I got to work I got a phone call from the “fraud dept” asking me for my info &if I had the card. I refused to give them any info & the guy just chuckled & asked me to call the phone on the back of my card. I did, & found out about the attempt. Thank heaven my company knew enough about me that they knew I couldn’t get from where I live to Long Beach in 15 minutes. They had denied the transaction and shut down my account for me.
I don’t have insurance at all Gave that up long ago. And I will NOT be penalized for not having insurance. Don’t believe everything you hear about ObamaScare being mandatory or about being penalized if you don’t have insurance of some kind. Our very own code from a .gov website says you don’t have to purchase insurance and you CANNOT be penalized for not having insurance.
http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section18115&num=0&edition=prelim#referenceintext-note
and
http://www.dcclothesline.com/2014/01/09/federal-law-says-can-opt-obamacare-can-penalized/
Having said and proven that, if you WANT insurance, go for it. I don’t need it and won’t have it.
I also have had my identity stolen some 10 or more years ago. And this theft was similar to one of the previous comments. If I remember correctly, I received a notice from AOL about my account (I think it was because the sign-up fees had not been paid, and of course I had never signed up for their service in the first place! ).
I contacted my credit card company and disputed the charge on my credit card, and they quickly removed this charge from my account and issued me a new card and account number. I did retain all of the information regarding this incident.
Two r three months later I received notice from a collection company from California, (regarding a overdue billing from a Web hosting company, in Texas). They were contacting me regarding a past due billing that had been charged to this same (now closed) credit card. When I contacted the collection company relating to this fraudulent charge, and disputed the charge, and stated that my credit card company had cancelled the compromised credit card, and if they had any questions they could contact the company that had issued that card, and legally I was not liable for this charge. This collection agent quickly became rude and told me he would just turn it over to their legal department lawyer and we would just see what would happen, ( vailed threat to scare me so I might be intimidated and pay this bogus charge). I ended this call shortly there after.
I did decided send this company copies of the documentation provided by my credit card company to this collection company and did include that if they wished to involve an attorney that I (at the time of this contact from them, I worked for the State of Michigan, as a Deputy Inspector) and that if I found it necessary to involve an attorney, it would be the Attorney General for the State of Michigan. Believe it or not, this company could not get away from me fast enough!!! So I thought that was the end of this incident, but I was wrong!
A few years later, the Web Hosting company contacted me, (yes, the same company) and threatened me directly for this fraudulent charge, (which the collection company had supposedly taken care of) for collection and tried to threaten me to make me pay. I told them that this was supposedly take care of 2 or more years ago. They said it wasn’t and that they were going file a lawsuit to receive their money. So I informed them that the collection agency had discharged their collection of this charge and I had all of the paperwork to prove it. And I also told them my next contact would be the Attorney General’s office with the State of Michigan to prosecute them for fraud. Again, as soon as I mentioned this, they capitulated and would quickly remove this charge from their records. The moral that I would take from all of this IS, dispute any dubious charge on your card if you did not make it! Keep complete documentation, AND, any and all of the names and titles of the people you interfaced with, along with the time(s) and dates of these contacts. The credit card, collection agencies, and such will try to intimidate you, and bully you into paying these supposed debts. “Stand your ground if you did not do it….” G-Mog 1953
Dee Preston,
I agree with you 100%. We have been ripped off by a company that should have done a much better job at protecting us, or at lease let us know what they are going to fix it. Sending out a few emails with no guarantee is lame. Would you be willing to participate in a class action lawsuit? If so, email me at [email protected] or call me at 803-266-3632. And let me know if anyone else has been compromised that would join. I used to work for a law firm that handled thousands of people in asbestos suits (on the Plaintiffs side). I think they would be very interested in this, and we could be compensated justly for ID theft, anguish, etc.
Anthem should be punished by law. Breach of confidentiality, breach of contract, lack of due diligence with our information……..Anyone up for a class action lawsuit? I’m in!
I too am with Anthem, I received nothing from the company. The only way I knew about anything awry was from the internet. What should we do? I can’t just forget it. I am so sorry for what they did to you. God bless.
Yes….Lifewise Washington had the very same thing happen earlier this year. My wife and I were notified of the issue and offered a “credit monitoring service” free for a year to compensate. BIG DEAL. A company that notifies you someone is ALREADY using your info. fraudulently. Woo Hoo! I am incensed at the lack of responsibility these companies we entrust with our most personal information display. And perhaps the laws should change to punish severely those that do the hacking. How about a debtor’s prison where they are locked up and forced to work for wages that are paid directly to those they ripped off until they are fully compensated…..so effectively the bigger the crime, the longer the time?!
You are darn right about Anthem and the danger we are in. I can’t afford to live on only cash. What are we to do? I suggest criminal charges for Anthem for not protecting 80 million people. Damnit.
I have my insurance through Anthem/Blue Cross. Several months ago, I did receive a letter in the mail stating that some of their customer accounts had been hacked into. I was also told, I think in a subsequent letter, that they were offering a year of free credit monitoring for their members, as a result of this breach, and that they would send a further notice to those people whose information had actually been compromised. I never heard any more about this, so to this day I don’t know if I was one of the lucky ones not affected, or they just didn’t bother to follow through. As far as I am concerned, I did nothing wrong, and so this is entirely the insurance company’s problem to deal with, and their responsibility to make good on any issues that may result from it.
In answer to your question, yes, I have had my personal information compromised twice. One time I saw several suspicious charges on one of my credit card statements. When I inquired about it, I found that someone had been using my card number to sign up for AOL internet accounts. I contacted AOL, and they credited my account, but otherwise didn’t seem concerned about going after whoever had done this. Of course, I wanted to know how it happened, because I am careful with my information. I had only used that particular card twice in the preceding several months, at an automotive repair shop and a veterinarian’s office. Not accusing employees of either establishment of deliberate wrongdoing, I suspect that someone just carelessly left an invoice containing my credit information lying on the counter, where a passerby saw it and used it.
The other time, I believe less of my personal information was compromised, but I nevertheless had more grief. I started receiving phone calls from creditors and later collection agencies telling me that my bills to companies I had never heard of were overdue and needed to be paid. Each time I would tell the caller that they had the wrong person, but the calls continued over several months. I got a particularly rude call from some collection agent who accused me of falsifying my information to avoid paying my bill and threatened me with a large penalty if I did not pay it immediately. He said that the only way I could avoid paying this bill I did not owe was to mail him photocopies of my driver’s license and social security card to prove who I was and that they did indeed have the wrong person. To me, that was just another opportunity for some unknown person to get access to my personal information, so I did not comply. At this point, I went to my local police department to file a complaint of identity theft. As far as I know, it was just put into the record without any followup. A while later, I received an official looking envelope in the mail addressed to the woman who had stolen my identity, with instructions that if I was not that person, I should return it to the post office unopened, which I did. That seemed to be the end of it.
Once again, I don’t believe this theft was a result of anything I did. As far as I can see, the only information this woman had of mine was my name and address, which are public record and were listed in the phone book. My best guess is that she happened to have the same first name but a different last name from me. She claimed to get married, changing to a hyphenated last name of hers and mine, and later to mine alone, and claimed to live at my address, possibly using a post office box somewhere, so I would not receive her mail. Then she apparently applied for credit under her new identity, ran up bills, and skipped town. I think the fault lies with the companies who issued her credit without first doing an adequate check. A simple check of my records would show that I had used the same name and address for over twenty years and the social security number she apparently provided did not match mine, and should have made it obvious that she was a fraud.
That was something like fifteen years ago, and even now if I search my name on one of those internet sites to find people, this woman’s name is listed as having lived at my address and possibly being related to me. I cannot get this information corrected.
The lesson from all of this is that we can do everything possible to protect our own personal information, and still have it compromised by the carelessness of virtually anyone who has access to it. I hope that those responsible for safeguarding our information will take note, but I rather doubt it.
The insurance companies are supposed to follow HIPPA laws when hacked or compromised. If they are not following strict prrotocols on this they are in violation. Once everyoine went to e medical records, they were in jeopardy. Why do you think obamacare is all e records? It seems almost intentional at this point. How do we believe this was not done on purpose? Compromised records on all accounts. Something sinister is going on!