Iowa Attorney General urges consumers to act after T-Mobile data breach

DES MOINES, Iowa (WOWT) - Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller is urging residents to take appropriate steps to protect their identities.

A data breach in August 2021 compromised the personal information of millions of current, former, and prospective T-Mobile customers. The breach affected more than 53 million individuals, including more than 134,000 Iowa residents.

Some of the information affected by the data breach potentially includes names, dates of birth, Social Security Numbers, and driver’s license information.

Attorney General Miller says a large subset of the breached information was recently for sale on the dark web. Miller claims many individuals have since received alerts through identity theft protection services.

Iowa is participating in a multistate coalition of attorneys generals investigating the breach and whether T-Mobile had appropriate safeguards in place to protect personal information.

Miller is suggesting Iowa residents take some extra precautions to protect themselves.

“It has been nearly seven months since T-Mobile’s latest data breach came to light. Affected Iowans are now receiving notice of this breach, even those who are not actual T-Mobile customers,” Miller said. “It is important that every Iowan who receives a notice of this breach take the steps to protect themselves.”

Miller suggests affected residents monitor their credit, consider placing a freeze on their credit report, and place a fraud alert on their credit lines.

If you believe you are a victim of identity theft, go to identitytheft.gov for assistance on how to report and recover from it.