FYI - Anthem Breach Affects 80 Million People

We wanted to share this information regarding Anthem with our members who may be affected.  We also want to remind you to never give out your personal information over the phone or online, unless you initiated the call.  Your Credit Union would never call you and ask you for this information.  If we identify suspicious activity on one of your debit or credit cards with us, we will call you to verify the transaction.  But we will not ask for any additional information - we already have it.

"Anthem was the target of a very sophisticated external cyber attack," Anthem president and CEO, Joseph Swedish announced in a statement on a website created to provide information on this breach, anthemfacts.com. Approximately 80 million former and current members had their personal information exposed including social security numbers, names, birthdays, medical IDs, street addresses, email addresses and employment information. Anthem is offering credit monitoring services, which is highly recommended that potential victims take full advantage of. 

Because so much information was lost, identity theft is not the only concern. It is very likely that elaborate phishing scams will start soon that will attempt to get people to click on a link or download a file. These scams will target everyone, not just breach victims. The more something is in the news, the more likely people are to fall for scams because they have some familiarity with the email subject. 

Steps people can take to protect themselves:

• Accept credit monitoring services immediately

• Call one of the credit bureaus and put a "Fraud Watch" on your SSN. You only need to call one, by law they are required to contact the other two to ensure they also set up a fraud watch on your behalf. It is free, but only lasts for 90 days, so set a reminder to have it refreshed

• Get a free credit report every 4 months. Each credit bureau is required to provide a free credit report once a year. So stagger each of the three so you can spot any fraud. Visit annualcreditreport.com to get started

• Watch for phishing scams; emails designed to look like they are from Anthem that attempt to get you to click on a link, download a file or enter login credentials. The criminals will attempt to deliver malware that can have a number of different effects. Online banking malware is growing faster than any other as this will help a criminal gain access to your financial accounts

• Watch for a noticeable increase in credit card offers. If someone attempts to get a credit card in your name, that information is picked up by all the credit card companies and they will send you offers