Arizonans are being warned about identity theft in the wake of a Banner Health data breach that affects 3.7 million people, including many Arizonans.
Consumers who receive a data breach notification from Banner Health indicating their personally identifiable information may have been accessed can take the following steps to protect themselves from becoming a victim of identity theft:
- Contact their bank and/or credit card company and request a new card.
- Regularly review debit and/or credit card transactions.
- Get a free credit report from the 3 credit reporting agencies to check for any unauthorized accounts and charges. Consumers should continually monitor their credit reports.
- Place a credit freeze on their accounts.
- Beware of scam calls. (Someone may have some of their personal information so it’s important that they not assume a telephone call is legitimate just because the caller has some of their personal information.)
Banner Health is offering credit monitoring services. If consumers believe they are the victim of identity theft they can:
- File a police report with their local law enforcement agency
- Notify all 3 credit reporting agencies
- Visit the FTC’s Identity Theft website at www.IdentityTheft.gov (link is external) to file a complaint.