MM Curator summary
The article below has been highlighted and summarized by our research team. It is provided here for member convenience as part of our Curator service.
[MM Curator Summary]: “Passw0rd”
Clipped from: https://www.azfamily.com/2023/06/30/medicaid-security-breach-affects-over-2600-arizonans-agency-says/
The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System says 2,632 people are affected by the breach.(MGN)
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — Over 2,600 Arizona Medicaid recipients may have had their personal information stolen after a breach that happened mid-May.
The state’s Medicaid agency, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), said in a statement that it is “aware of a breach of personal information on May 11, 2023 affecting 2,632 individuals in Arizona who are enrolled Medicaid members.” The vulnerability would have allowed bad actors to see sensitive details, including first and last names, addresses and the last four digits of Social Security numbers through the Health-e-Arizona Plus website. Upon learning of the error, the HEAplus system toolbar was turned off.
AHCCCS assures that this type of breach would not happen again, the agency said in the statement, and that starting July 3, it will start to notify those affected by the breach. The agency will send out the notifications through the mail.
If you learn that you’re affected by the breach, you can contact one of the three credit reporting agencies to report a fraud alert, which lets the agencies know that any new requests for credit may be fraudulent. You can also ask the agencies for a security freeze that stops agencies from releasing your information without your express permission (you’ll have to do this using certified mail notifying all three agencies).
Consumers are entitled to one free credit report from each of the three agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You can learn more at www.annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228.
Credit Reporting Agency contact information:
Equifax, 1-888-378-4329 or www.equifax.com/personal or mail to P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
Experian, 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742) or www.experian.com or mail to P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX, 75013
TransUnion, 1-800-916-8800 or www.transunion.com/annual-credit-report or mail to Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790
Other resources:
Report any suspected identity theft to local police and inform AHCCCS of any filed police reports.
Identity Theft Resource Center | www.idtheftcenter.org
1-888-400-5530 (not a toll-free number). Information is available in English and Spanish.
Federal Trade Commission |
www.consumer.ftc.gov/features
1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338). Information is available in English and Spanish.
Arizona Attorney General’s Office
For more, www.azag.gov/consumer provides tips on how to guard against identity theft and the misuse of personal information (select Identity Theft from Quick Links menu at top of home page). You may also call 602-542-5025 (Phoenix); 520-628-6504 (Tucson); or toll-free 1-866-742-4911 (outside Maricopa and Pima Counties).
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.