COMPANY NEWS
Be Aware of the TransUnion Hack!
April 8, 2022
At least three million South Africans have been impacted by a data hack of TransUnion earlier this month. We therefore urge all our clients to be alert, stay vigilant and report any suspicious fraudulent activity. Awareness is critical, as criminals can pass security checks over the phone with banks and other institutions. Scammers can also trick businesses and consumers in handing over sensitive information.
NEVER disclose sensitive information – especially your passwords, pins and usernames.
TransUnion states:
“We are aware that a criminal third party has aggregated and is releasing data allegedly obtained from TransUnion South Africa and other sources, including at least 54 million records unrelated to TransUnion from prior data breaches dating back to 2017.” It is said that a further 6-million ID numbers may have been stolen, but it is not clear if they are linked to any other information.
Based on TransUnion’s investigation to date, fields of information that may be affected include:
FOR CONSUMERS
- Name
- ID number
- Date of birth
- Gender
- Telephone number
- Email address
- Address
- Marital status and information
- Identity of employer and duration of employment
- Vehicle finance contract number
- VIN numbers
“In isolated circumstances, spouse information, passport numbers, credit or insurance scores may be impacted. Each consumer may have a combination of different fields impacted, depending on what data was available.”
FOR BUSINESSES
- Company registration number
- TransUnion business reference number
- Business name
- Business type (public, sole proprietor, etc.)
- Business address
- Business contact number
- Email address
- Business credit scores
- Industry sector classification code and description
- Principal ID number
- Principal name and surname
- Principal position (director, trustee, representative, member, etc.).
“Each business may have a combination of different fields impacted, depending on what data was available.”
TransUnion has made identity protection products available to those whose information was illegally accessed from TransUnion South Africa.
FOR CONSUMERS
“TransUnion is offering an annual subscription of TrueIdentity free of charge. TrueIdentity gives people the information and tools to detect identity-related threats and if need be, a way to get help to recover from them. When the free one-year subscription to TrueIdentity lapses, TransUnion will provide affected individuals with a free ongoing TrueCredit subscription until 31 December 2023. TrueCredit provides credit monitoring and credit alerts as well as monthly credit reports.”
FOR BUSINESSES
“TransUnion is offering a subscription to Business Credit Reports every 2 weeks free of charge until 31 December 2023. These tools will provide awareness of changes to the credit profile of your business and allow you to mitigate against unsolicited business engagements using your company details.”
IMPORTANT: DO NOT PROVIDE PERSONAL INFORMATION ON ANY SITE THAT IS NOT www.transunion.co.za
You can also follow these security recommendations, courtesy of TransUnion:
- Do not disclose personal / business information such as passwords and PINs when asked to do so by anyone via phone, fax, text messages or even email.
- Change your passwords regularly and never share these with anyone else.
- Verify all requests for personal information and only provide it when there is a legitimate reason to do so.
- Perform frequent anti-virus and malware scans on your personal / business computer(s) and mobile device(s), using software that is up to date.
- Do not click on any suspicious links.
For more information, or to speak to your broker about Cyber Insurance for your business, please contact your dedicated broker!
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