We publish, in its entirety, the Consumer Alert issued by New Hampshire’s Attorney General regarding the data breach at Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

PRESS RELEASE

Released by: Joseph A. Foster, Attorney General
Subject: Attorney General encourages all Anthem members to sign up for credit protection services and provides advice to minimize identity theft risks.
Date: February 18, 2015                                       Release Time: Immediate

Contact: James T. Boffetti, Senior Assistant Attorney General  Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau (603) 271-0302

CONSUMER ALERT

Attorney General Joseph A. Foster announces that his office has been regularly in contact with officials at Anthem related to the recent data breach and is coordinating with Attorneys General of other states as the investigation into this breach by federal and state law enforcement officials continues. Attorney General Foster encourages all current and former Anthem members in New Hampshire to immediately enroll in the credit protection services now available through Anthem. Those services include:

– Free identity theft repair services to those who feel they have experienced fraud;
– Free identity protection services for the next two years, including:

  • identity repair assistance
  • credit monitoring
  • child identity protection
  • identity theft insurance
  • identity theft monitoring/fraud detection
  • phone alerts.

Anthem members are directed to www.AnthemFacts.com to sign up for these services. Spanish speaking Anthem members can sign up at www.AnthemInforma.com. Those without internet access can call 877-263-7995 for assistance. Anthem has assured the public that it will not call members asking for credit card information or Social Security numbers over the phone. Attorney General Foster warns New Hampshire residents of the dangers of phone or email scams and cautions consumers throughout the State to never disclose personal information [date of birth; Social Security number; bank account information; credit/debit card information] in an email or phone call to unknown people, and to be especially cautious of unsolicited calls or emails.  For more information about recognizing scam email, go to; http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0003-phishing.

The Attorney General also cautions against wiring any money to an unknown person, especially in response to an unsolicited call or email. Scam artists often try to coerce their victims in wiring funds to them.

Finally, the Attorney General recommends that all residents regularly check their bank and credit/debit card statements and to alert those institutions if any unauthorized charges are found.  Often, a scam artist will attempt a minimal charge to see if it gets challenged before attempting to steal larger amounts. Regular credit checks should be a part of good preventive maintenance.  Everyone is entitled to three free credit reports each year – one from each of the free credit reporting agencies – Equifax; Experian and TransUnion. You can access these agencies through the FTC website – http://www.ftc.gov – or by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com.

The FTC website contains helpful information about these nationwide credit bureaus, about fraud alerts and security freezes.  A consumer can add a fraud alert to a credit report file to help protect credit information.  A fraud alert can make it more difficult for someone to get credit in someone else’s name because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect the legitimate consumer, but it also may delay that consumer’s ability to obtain credit.  Fraud alerts can be put in place by contacting just one of the three nationwide credit bureaus listed above.  As soon as that bureau processes the fraud alert, it will notify the other two bureaus, which then must also place fraud alerts.

In addition, more information is available in the links below about if and how to place a security freeze on a credit report to prohibit a credit bureau from releasing information from a consumer’s credit report without that consumer’s prior written authorization:

  • Equifax security freeze:
    https://www.freeze.equifax.com/Freeze/jsp/SFF_PersonalIDInfo.jsp
  •  Experian security freeze: http://www.experian.com/consumer/security_freeze.html
  •  TransUnion security freeze: http://www.transunion.com/personal-credit/creditdisputes/credit-freezes.page

New Hampshire residents can call the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-888-468-4454 or file a written complaint through the website at:  http://doj.nh.gov/consumer/complaints/index.htm.