Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and the Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) Director Anita G. Fox last Friday urged Michiganders affected by the data breach sustained by Detroit-based Wolverine Solutions Group to take extra precautions to help safeguard their information that may have been compromised.
It is believed the information of more than 600,000 Michiganders may have been compromised by the breach, including customers of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Health Alliance Plan, McLaren Health Care, Three Rivers Health, and North Ottawa Community Health System. Wolverine Solutions Group says it has mailed letters to all impacted individuals. According to the company website, exposed information could include names, addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers, insurance contract information and numbers, phone numbers, and medical information. The company says it does not believe personal information was extracted.
Data breaches are increasingly common in a highly technological society. On average, there is one identity theft victim in the U.S. every two seconds.
“Data breaches can be devastating to the affected individuals,” Nessel said. “It’s important this office provide affected customers with any and all available resources to help limit the effects of this – or any – breach. And today, we’re doing just that.”
“Wolverine is offering two levels of identity protection to individuals affected by the breach,” said Fox. “If you receive a letter from the company, we urge you to read it carefully and consider enrolling in the free credit monitoring service.”
Nessel said her office is seeking additional information about the breach through a letter to Wolverine Solutions Group. Unlike many other states, Michigan law does not require the Attorney General to be notified of data breaches. The office first learned of the Wolverine breach from media sources.
Affected individuals of any data breach and all Michiganders can take these steps to further protect their information:
• Find out what information was compromised and act accordingly.
• Pull your free credit report at annualcreditreport.com or by calling 877-322-8228.
• Put a fraud alert on your credit file. The Federal Trade Commission provides a checklist for this.
• Consider a security freeze on your credit file.
• Take advantage of any free services being offered as a result of the breach.
• Use two-factor authentication on your online accounts whenever it’s available.
For additional information on what to do during a data breach, review the Michigan Attorney General’s consumer alert on data breaches. A toll-free information hotline is being provided by the company to answer consumer questions at 877-412-7152.
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