Nearly 3 Million Impacted by USPS Data Breach

What happened?

The Chinese government is suspected of breaching computer systems at the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) — stealing both customer and employee data in the process. The cyber intrusion was discovered in September and is believed to have exposed personal information of 800,000 employees and retirees. Contact information from an estimated 2.9 million customers was also exposed during the breach.

Information stolen includes employee names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses and dates of employment. Customers who contacted the USPS Customer Care between Jan. 1 and Aug. 16 may have had their names, email addresses and phone numbers leaked. Hackers may use this contact information to execute phishing scams. Customers should be on high alert for suspicious emails.

USPS stated in a recent press release that “There is no evidence that any customer credit card information from retail or online purchases such as Click-N-Ship, the Postal Store, PostalOne!, change of address or other services was compromised.”

What should you do?

Employees
USPS will be providing employees and retirees with complimentary credit monitoring services. Please contact USPS for more information regarding these services.

EZShield recommends you take the following actions to safeguard your information:

1. Monitor your bank statements for unusual transactions
2. Check your credit report
3. Report any unusual activity; remember, credit card companies will not hold customers liable for fraudulent charges as long as they are reported quickly
4. Stay up-to-date with new fraud and identity theft developments by subscribing to Fighting Identity Crimes or connecting with EZShield on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+

Customers
Concerned customers should stay on high alert for phishing scams. Also be sure to watch out for scams online, by phone and even via mail. Many scammers will impersonate legitimate companies and use scare tactics to convince customers to provide personal information.

Learn more about data breaches and phishing scams here.