Comcast is warning that hackers stole the personal information of more than 230,000 customers in a ransomware attack on a third-party debt collector. according to the lawsuit. Bad actors targeted a Pennsylvania-based debt collection agency called Financial Business and Consumer Solutions (FBCS).
The attack occurred in February, but Comcast claims FBCS initially said the incident did not involve any customer data. FBCS changed its tune by July, when it notified Comcast that customer data had been stolen. according to a report by TechCrunch.
According to information, 237,703 subscribers were affected by the violation. The attackers were thorough, capturing names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, Comcast account numbers and social security numbers. Comcast says the stolen data belongs to customers who signed up with the company “around 2021.” It also says it has stopped using FBCS for debt collection purposes.
“Between February 14 and February 26, 2024, an unauthorized person gained access to the FBCS computer network and some of its computers,” the application states. “During this period, an unauthorized party downloaded data from FBCS systems and encrypted some systems as part of a ransomware attack.”
No group has stepped forward to claim responsibility for the incident. FBCS only called the attacker an “unauthorized actor”. The debt collection agency was hit hard by this attack, with Comcast customers being just one group of victims. The company says more than four million people were affected, and cybercriminals accessed medical claims and health insurance information in addition to standard identification information.
To this end, the medical debt purchase company CF Medical He confirmed that it was 600,000 its customers participated in the breach. Truist Bank also confirmed this affected by the attack.
Interestingly, this phenomenon primarily affects borrowers and exposes them to potential fraud. Chris Hauk, consumer privacy advocate Pixel Privacy“Bad actors who miss out on this information can use it to pose as debt relief agencies, which appeals to many as a way out of their situation, meaning many of the debtors involved could be defrauded of huge sums,” Engadget told Engadget. money, something they can’t afford.”
In other words, be on the lookout for suspicious phone calls, emails, and texts. This is good advice for everyone, not just debtors whose data is stored in FBCS. After all, it turned out that hackers stole Over 2.7 billion records Earlier this year, it included data from American consumers, probably everyone living in the country.
