SEATTLE — Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson urged Washingtonians impacted by the T-Mobile data breach in August 2021 to protect their personal information after it was seen for sale on the dark web.
The data breach announced by T-Mobile in August 2021 affected approximately 2 million Washingtonians, according to the Washington Attorney General's Office.
Ferguson urged Friday that all Washingtonians who believe they were impacted by the data breach protect their personal information from identity theft.
“Data breaches continue to be an escalating threat to Washingtonians,” Ferguson said. “We want to make sure Washingtonians have the tools they need to protect themselves in the wake of a data breach.”
In August 2021, T-Mobile announced a data breach that compromised the personal information of millions of current, former and prospective customers. The breach affected more than 50 million people nationwide. Names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and driver's license information were compromised.
Ferguson said the information comprised in the data breach was for sale on the dark web. The AG's office said many individuals impacted by the data breach have since received alerts through identity theft protection services that their data was recently found online.
Ferguson urged Washingtonians to take the following steps to protect themselves from identity theft:
- Monitor your credit
- Consider placing a free credit freeze on your credit report
- Place a fraud alert on your credit report
The AG's office is also providing additional resources on its website.