A debt collection company called Financial Business and Consumer Solutions (FBCS) has been affected by a massive data breach affecting millions of Americans. FBCS is a debt collection company that specializes in collecting defaulted consumer and commercial debts, including auto loans, medical bills, utility bills, student loans, and credit cards.
The number of affected individuals was initially estimated at approximately 1.9 million, but the company raised this to 3 million in June 2024. The data breach exposed a huge amount of consumer data, including names, Social Security Numbers (SSNs), dates of birth, and driver’s license numbers or identification documents. The company has notified affected individuals and the appropriate authorities.
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what happened?
According to a sample data breach notification the company provided to authorities, threat actors accessed FBCS’s systems on Valentine’s Day, but the company didn’t realize the breach had occurred until February 26. FBCS described the incident as follows: “Unauthorized access to a specific system within the network”
What is concerning is that FBCS did not send notification of the data breach until late April. “This notice was not delayed as a result of a law enforcement investigation.The company claims it is “conducting its own investigation while notifying federal authorities.”
According to the notice, the exposed information could include a variety of personal information, such as names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses, state-issued IDs, medical billing information, and even medical records, although FBCS clarified that not everyone affected’s data will be exposed.
Customer Service Representative (FBCS)
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How does FBCS respond to data breaches?
FBCS has taken some steps to put things right. “Immediately upon discovering this incident, we took steps to conduct a diligent investigation to ascertain the nature and scope of the incident. As part of our ongoing commitment to information security on the FBCS platform, we have also implemented additional safeguards in our newly built environment.” The company said in its notice.
The company is also offering affected individuals 24 months of free credit monitoring and identity restoration services, which may make you more vulnerable to this data breach. Phishing, Identity Theftand other social engineering attacks. To protect yourself, be careful about the information you share and closely monitor your bank account activity for suspicious transactions.
We reached out to FBCS for comment on this story but did not hear back by deadline.
Woman working on a laptop (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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6 steps to protect yourself from a data breach
If you’ve been affected by this data breach, please follow these steps to protect your personal data and privacy:
1) Invest in identity theft protection: If you believe your personal information has been compromised, scammers may try to impersonate you to gain access to your personal information. The best thing you can do to protect yourself from this type of fraud is to subscribe to an identity theft service. If you qualify, FBCS offers a free CyEx subscription.
Identity theft companies monitor personal information like Social Security numbers (SSNs), phone numbers, and email addresses to alert you if it’s being sold on the dark web or used to open accounts. They can also help you freeze bank and credit card accounts to prevent further fraud by criminals. Check out our tips and best choices for protecting yourself against identity theft.
2) Issue a fraud alert: If you suspect you’ve been a victim, contact the three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) and ask them to place a fraud alert on your credit file. This makes it harder for identity thieves to open new accounts in your name without verification.
3) Beware of phishing scams: Be wary of emails, phone calls, and messages from unknown sources asking for personal information. Don’t click on suspicious links or provide sensitive information unless you can verify the legitimacy of the request.
The best way to protect yourself from clicking on malicious links that could install malware that could access your personal information is to install antivirus protection on all your devices, which will also warn you about phishing emails and ransomware scams. We’ve handpicked the winners of the best antivirus protection of 2024 for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.
4) Check your Social Security benefits: It’s important to regularly check your Social Security benefits to ensure they haven’t been tampered with or altered to protect your financial security and prevent potential fraud.
5) Invest in personal data deletion services: No service promises to delete all your data from the Internet, but if you want to constantly monitor and automate the process of continually deleting information from hundreds of sites over a long period of time, a deletion service can be a useful tool. Use my best picks here to remove your personal data from the internet.
6) Change your password. You can render a stolen password useless to a thief by simply changing it. Choose a strong password that you don’t use anywhere else. Even better, Password Manager Generated automatically.
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Important points about the cart
Data breaches and cyber attacks are on the rise in the United States. Businesses have a responsibility to protect customer data, and when a cyber attack occurs, the minimum response is to promptly notify affected individuals. FBCS delayed notification, which may have given attackers time to target unprepared individuals. If you believe your data has been breached, it’s best to take a proactive approach. Start by changing your passwords and monitoring your bank accounts for unknown transactions.
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