National Public Data (NPD), a Coral Springs, Florida-based company, has confirmed that cybercriminals successfully breached its servers, stealing the Social Security numbers and other sensitive information of nearly EVERY American, the New York Post reported.
Jerico Pictures Inc., operating as National Public Data, released a statement last week acknowledging the massive data breach. The company confirmed that the stolen data included names, email addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, and mailing addresses.
The breach, which occurred in late December 2023, is believed to have exposed sensitive data through subsequent leaks in April and the summer of 2024.
NPD attributed the breach to a “third-party bad actor” and described the incident as a “data security incident” in its official statement on its website. The company emphasized that it has since conducted an investigation into the breach, but the damage has already been done.
Since August 1, at least eight separate lawsuits have been filed against NPD, each alleging negligence and breaches of fiduciary duty. The first of these lawsuits was filed by Christopher Hoffman, a California resident, who claims that a cybercriminal group known as “USDoD” posted the stolen data on the dark web.
Hoffman’s lawsuit, which was first reported by Bloomberg Law, alleges that the group made the personal data of 2.9 billion people available for sale on the dark web, pricing the database at a staggering $3.5 million. The lawsuit further alleges that the hackers obtained data dating back at least three decades, including information about relatives and past addresses.
The Gateway Pundit previously reported:
According to the Times, the information stolen includes possibly every Social Security number in America and other sensitive data. News of the hack was discovered in a lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
USDoD previously put the personal data up for sale for $3.5 million according to the complaint.
Teresa Murray, consumer watchdog director for the U.S. Public Information Research Group told the LA Times in an interview that if USDoD is telling the truth, this hack is much more severe than previous ones affecting Americans.
“If this in fact is pretty much the whole dossier on all of us, it certainly is much more concerning,” Murray said. “And if people weren’t taking precautions in the past, which they should have been doing, this should be a five-alarm wake-up call for them.”
In response to the breach, NPD has urged affected individuals to closely monitor their financial accounts and report any unauthorized activity to their financial institutions immediately. The company also recommends that Social Security number holders contact the three major credit reporting agencies—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—to obtain a free credit report and place a fraud alert on their file.
According to NPD:
We strongly advise you to take preventive measures to help prevent and detect any misuse of your information. As a first step, we recommend that you closely monitor your financial accounts and if you see any unauthorized activity, you should promptly contact your financial institution.
As a second step, you may want to contact the three U.S. credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to obtain a free credit report from each by calling 1.877.322.8228 or by logging onto www.annualcreditreport.com. It is also recommended that you place a free fraud alert on your credit file. A fraud alert tells creditors to contact you before they open any new accounts or change your existing accounts.
Contact any one of the three major credit bureaus. As soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others are notified to place fraud alerts. The initial fraud alert stays on your credit report for one year. You can renew it after one year.
Equifax: equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services or 1-800-685-1111
Experian: experian.com/help or 1-888-397-3742
TransUnion: transunion.com/credit-help or 1-888-909-8872
Ask each credit bureau to send you a free credit report after it places a fraud alert on your file. Review your credit reports for accounts and inquiries you do not recognize.
These can be signs of identity theft. If your personal information has been misused, visit the FTCs site at IdentityTheft.gov to report the identity theft and get recovery steps.
Even if you do not find any suspicious activity on your initial credit reports, it is recommended that you check your credit reports periodically so you can spot problems and address them quickly. You may also want to consider placing a free credit freeze.
A credit freeze means potential creditors cannot get your credit report. That makes it less likely that an identity thief can open new accounts in your name. To place a freeze, contact each of the major credit bureaus at the links or phone numbers above.
A freeze remains in place until you ask the credit bureau to temporarily lift it or remove it.
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