3 Million Mass. Residents May Have Had Data Stolen

BOSTON, MA — The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office is warning Bay Staters that they may have been impacted by the recently Equifax cybersecurity hacking incident announced this week. Out of the more than 143 million consumers who had “sensitive information” that was compromised, nearly 3 million residents in Massachusetts may have been harmed, according to AG Maura Healey.

The information accessed through this breach included names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers. Equifax’s computerized data files were compromised between mid-May and July of this year, James T. Boffetti, the Senior Assistant Attorney General Chief, said.

"Following reports of a major data breach at credit reporting agency Equifax Inc. comprising the personal information of hundreds of millions of consumers nationwide and nearly three million in Massachusetts, Attorney General Maura Healey today launched an investigation into the breach and urged consumers to take immediate steps to protect their information against identity theft," a release from Healey's office said.

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Equifax has established a dedicated website, equifaxsecurity2017.com to check and see if your personal information was exposed or compromised. When logging into the website, click the “potential impact” tab, enter your last name and the last six digits of your Social Security number from a secure computer on an encrypted network connection.

“The site will tell you if you’ve been affected by this breach,” Boffetti said.

Watch: Expert, 'No Way' To Get Back Stolen Equifax Data

Equifax is also offering consumers who may have been impacted a free year of credit monitoring as well as other services. The site will give you a date to come back to the site and enroll. There are frequently asked questions on the site, too.

Equifax has established a dedicated call center and can be reached at 866-447-7559. The call center is open every day (including weekends) from 7 to 1 a.m. eastern time.

Tony Schinella, Patch staff, contributed to this report

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