For a couple of years now, T-Mobile has touted its installment and lease plans that’ll get you a new phone for $0 down. To get that rate, though, you need to have your credit checked. And today it was revealed that one of the bureaus that perform these credit checks had a breach.
Experian reports that on September 15, a server containing T-Mobile data was accessed by an unauthorized party. This server contained information on T-Mobile customers as well as anyone that applied for a credit check with T-Mobile between September 1, 2013, and September 16, 2015. The data of approximately 15 million people was accessed during this incident.
As for what kind of information was accessed, Experian says that its server contained names, addresses, Social Security numbers, birth dates, ID numbers — such as driver’s license numbers and passports — and “additional information used in T-Mobile’s own credit assessment.” No credit card or banking information was obtained by the unauthorized party.
If you feel that your data may have been accessed in this breach, you can sign up for two years of free credit monitoring and identity resolution services. To do so, visit Protect My ID. Experian is also sending out notifications to those that've been affected by the breach.
As for what happens now, Experian says that it “quickly” alerted law enforcement after discovering the breach and that it’s since strengthened its security. Meanwhile, T-Mobile says that it plans to conduct a thorough review of its partnership with Experian.
This is a huge data breach, both in terms of its size and the information gathered. While credit card and bank info may not have been obtained, important details like SSNs, addresses, and dates of birth were. If you applied to T-Mobile to have your credit checked any time between September 2013 and September 2015, you should definitely head to Protect My ID to enroll in credit monitoring services. You can also take extra steps like not sharing sensitive info over email and placing a security freeze on your credit file.