A data breach report on the Texas Health and Human Services Commission Office of The Attorney Generals website shows that up to 88,498 Texans may have been affected by a security breach on the data systems of Maximus, Inc, a contractor to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Chalk this up to the MOVEit breach that occurred in May of 2023. MOVEit is a managed file transfer software used by thousands of IT departments in high technology, government, and financial services. And a Russian affiliated cyber gang found a little vulnerability in the software. And “a little” is all it takes. MOVEit was infiltrated by malware that stole sensitive information from databases all around the world. The number of victims impacted by the MOVEit vulnerability is about 2,120 organizations equating to roughly 62 million individuals.
Now the Texas HHS gets to add themselves to the list. Texans impacted are just receiving letters Maximus a contractor with the not-so-great news that their personal information has been stolen. Six months ago. More than enough time for hackers to wreak havoc with their identity. And steal your benefits. Many victims have found that food benefits have been stolen. The greater problem is that recipients can’t change the PIN numbers on their ENT benefit cards. Because the fraudsters have already done that with the stolen social security number.
The security breach is not only affecting adults. Names, dates of birth and social security numbers of minors have also been compromised. In their letter to victims, Maximus does offer two years of credit monitoring, identity restoration, and fraud detection services through Experian. Which is great. For an adult. But credit monitoring is not nearly enough to protect a 10-year-old from identity theft in the future. Good luck kid.
Great job by the F.B.I in this massive cyber hack.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “Texas Health and Human Services hackers accessed personal information” published by Fox 26 HOUSTON on November 3, 2023
Texans who get benefits like the Lone Star card are getting letters telling them all their personal information like name, address, date of birth, and Social Security Number have been compromised.
“I was shocked when I got the letter because it was informing me that me and my kids identities was at stake,” said this mother of four minor children who asked that we not identify her by name. We will call her Mary.In the last month, Mary says money from her Lone Star card was stolen three different times.
