Author:
Sunday evening I received an email with all my personal, private, and financial data listed on it. A security breach at one of the health hospitals let them copy everything about me and a million others. They offered to sell the list back to me before they placed it on the darkweb for sale.
I'm not the sharpest tool in the tool shed but trusting crooks to promise to wipe all my private info and not sell it if I send them money is too funny. I guess they were looking for a two fer? Sell it to me and then sell it on the darknet. The second dumb thing would be to respond and let them know they hit a live person not someone deceased or no longer there. Same thing everyone should do with every email scam, don't respond.
Ho hum, I'm a very exposed person, yet I'm not scattered all over and my finances..., Lets just say not a chance in Hell. I contacted my bank first thing, credit card company, and sent a registered letter to the FBI with the email the blackmailers sent along with all my info. The bank put an alert on all my finances, the credit card company said I'm secured not a problem. The IRS has multiple photo IDs of me as does every other government entity. I'm as stealth as a Vegas Showgirl standing in the middle of main street. Lots of luck trying to impersonate me anywhere, any place.
I pray no one finds their world of privacy and finances has been hijacked by scammers and blackmailers. To be safe, make sure things are as tight as you can make them. Keep a contact list handy. The companies that offer to safeguard all your data for a price has a very poor track record. The government agencies who track cyber crime, especially blackmailers don't have a very good record of asset recovery. Best to make double sure your self to limit exposure. The Hospital with the security breach is a huge one with several branches. Their best wasn't good enough.
I'm unhappy it happened, it wasn't through any fault of my own. I want my experience to be a wake up call to everyone else. Make sure your personal and financial house is in order and you can do whatever is necessary to protect your assets in a moments notice.
Hugs People, stay safe, stay warm.
Barbie Jean
Life has speed bumps not to wreck us but to remind us to not get complacent, lazy and sloppy.
Comments
Have you contacted the hospital?
That seems like a good first step to me, hope it is of some help.
Nothing the Hospital Can Do
They can't automatically retrieve the data. As far as protecting anyone, maybe others might need help but I've already done more than they could provide. All the info on security breech, any company, the response is dismal to say it nicely. From what I've read most hope no one finds out their company lost private data and take a long time to alert clients. They seem to take a let's not say anything and maybe no one will find out it was us who lost the information.
My bank had already read about the security breach before I informed them. I'm guessing the financial institutions may have been alerted? And from what I have read about lawsuits, seems to be too little to late to help for most.
Hugs Wendy Jean
Barb
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Also possible
That whoever contacted you got the information from the dark web and aren't the original crooks!
Or they could extort you for more money since you paid once, why wouldn't you keep paying?
Protecting yourself
Some things worth considering or checking on:
1. Credit Karma is a free service and they let you know if they detect any changes to your credit (ie. a new credit card, etc)
2. Both, banks and insurance companies, offer their customers some sort of identity protection/detection or reporting
3. Get an IP PIN with the IRS so that they can’t process a tax return on your name without the pin
4. Let one of the credit card bureaus know that your identity was stolen and to put a freeze on your account regarding changes (chances are the bank did this for you, but it does not hurt to check/do it)
Best of luck
Gabi
Xtrim
Email scams
I see them of every stripe popping up. Only one came down to blackmail. I wasn't sure about it, until I thought it through. They wanted me to pay them not to tell all my friends and email contacts just what pervert porn I'd been watch on some site somewhere. They supplied my "log in credentials" for the site complete with user name and password. The user name was a combination of my first and last name. A common choice for usernames. But the password was some gobbledygook that I'd never use. They claimed that they had access to my computer and had stripped all my contacts and their emails and would send them the evidence of my perversion if I didn't pay.
Having access to my computer would not have given them access to my email contacts because all of my emails are cloud based and I don't use a local app to read my email. Each and every email is accessed through their own login site. Then there's the fact that I don't make a habit of surfing porn sites to start with. Combine that with that bogus password. They were throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what would stick.
But I regularly see emails from my bank requiring immediate action to keep my accounts from being frozen. All I need to do is log into the bank site (link provided) and verify my user name and password. Not to mention that the link provided doesn't connect to a site owned by my bank. The ones that are really funny a the ones that are from banks where I don't now and did never have an account.
I simply forward the email to [email protected] and then delete the email.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
I'll add: Review credit/debit card statements upon arrival, ...
... or better, review CC statements on-line, perhaps weekly.
Folks have pretty much said it, don't click on any links anyone sends you. Even if it looks 'legit'.
Instead, in another browser tab (or your phone), "go in the front door" of your bank or credit card company, and ask.
===
I had a phone call from my pharmacy. The moment they asked to "confirm my identity", I punched my mental "Stranger-Danger!" button, apologized that I would have to check. Called my pharmacy on a known "good" number and said "What the heck???".
It turned out that the call was legit - but the pharmacy had out-sourced that 'chunk' of their services - and thereby confused the heck out of everybody. Oh ...
Put a Freeze on Opening New Credit
Contacted Social Security, the lady informed me they could use my SS number but it would be blocked no matter what they tried. I contacted one of the credit agencies and put a freeze on all new credit applications. One agency shares with every agency, no need of reporting to more than one. The freeze will last for a year and may be lifted via me before if I choose.
Hope the blackmailers frustration is in overload as I'm a dry well as far as they are concerned. I'm finding this an education I could have done without but hopefully my experience will warn others to be vigilant.
Hugs People
Barbie Jean
Life is a gift, don't waste it wishing, live it.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl