Maryland’s attorney general is warning residents about a data breach that has compromised the personal and medical information of more than 20 million people nationwide.
Attorney General Brian Frosh said in a statement this week that the breach of the debt collection company American Medical Collection Agency has left information such as names, Social Security numbers, bank information and medical test information exposed.
American Medical Collection Agency collects money from patients of giant health corporations such as Quest Diagnostics (11.9 million patients affected), LabCorp (7.7 million), BioReference Laboratories (422,600), Carecentrix (500,000) and Sunrise Laboratories (an unknown number of patients).
AMCA’s payment system was breached Aug. 1, 2018, and remained so until March 30 of this year.
“Massive data breaches like the one experienced by the AMCA are extremely alarming, especially considering the likelihood that personal, financial, and medical information may now be in the hands of thieves and scammers,” Frosh said in the statement. “I strongly urge consumers to take steps to ensure that their information and personal identity is protected.”
He gave a list of steps for people who may have been affected:
- Obtain a free credit report at www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling 877-322-8228.
- Put a fraud alert on your credit file.
- Consider a security freeze on your credit file (for more information about freezes, visit http://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/Pages/IdentityTheft/freezing.aspx.
- Take advantage of any free services being offered as a result of the breach.
- Use two-factor authentication on your online accounts whenever available.
