August 19, 2021
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will investigate a data breach reported by T-Mobile U.S. Inc that affected more than 47 million current, past and potential customers.
The third-largest U.S. mobile phone company said that personal information such as social security numbers and driving license information of past and prospective customers had been stolen along with data from 7.8 million existing T-Mobile wireless customers.
T-Mobile also announced that birthdates and first and last names were stolen, although there was no evidence that their financial details were compromised.
The mobile operator, which had 104.8 million customers in June, exposed the data breach on Sunday after U.S. digital media outlet Vice reported that an anonymous seller had offered private data such as social security numbers from a break-in on T-Mobile servers on an underground forum.
T-Mobile also mentioned that about 850,000 active T-Mobile prepaid customer names, phone numbers and account PINs were also disclosed.
T-Mobile’s data breach is the latest high-profile cyberattack as cybercriminals capitalize on weakened security caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more information, read the original story in Reuters.
