AT&T Data Breach

Watch For Scams is dedicated to helping you avoid becoming a victim of fraud.

If you like this ezine, do a friend a big favor and forward this to them. If a friend forwarded this to you, and if you like what you read, please subscribe by visiting the link below:

Subscribe Here

AT&T Data Breach

US phone giant AT&T has advised that cybercriminals managed to download phone call and text message records of “nearly all of AT&T cellular customers from May 1, 2022 to October 31, 2022 as well as on January 2, 2023”

The call and text records identify the phone numbers with which an AT&T number interacted during this period, including AT&T landline (home phone) customers. It also included counts of those calls or texts and total call durations for specific days or months.

This is the second time AT&T has disclosed a security incident this year. Back in March, AT&T confirmed that 73 million people had been affected in a breach that people had been speculating about for some time.

Protecting yourself after a data breach

1. Check the vendor’s advice. Every breach is different, so check with the vendor to find out what’s happened, and follow any specific advice they offer.

2. Change your password. You can make a stolen password useless to thieves by changing it. Choose a strong password that you don’t use for anything else. Better yet, let a password manager choose one for you.

3. Enable two-factor authentication (2FA). If you can, use a FIDO2-compliant hardware key, laptop or phone as your second factor. Some forms of two-factor authentication (2FA) can be phished just as easily as a password. 2FA that relies on a FIDO2 device can’t be phished.

4. Watch out for fake vendors. The thieves may contact you posing as the vendor. Check the vendor website to see if they are contacting victims, and verify the identity of anyone who contacts you using a different communication channel.

5. Take your time. Phishing attacks often impersonate people or brands you know, and use themes that require urgent attention, such as missed deliveries, account suspensions, and security alerts.

6. Consider not storing your card details. It’s definitely more convenient to get sites to remember your card details for you, but we highly recommend not storing that information on websites.

7. Set up identity monitoring. Identity monitoring alerts you if your personal information is found being traded illegally online, and helps you recover after.

Remember - always watch for scams!