Data hack affects 350,000 Arizona T-Mobile customers

A credit-bureau data breach may affect 15 million people — including more than 350,000 Arizonans — who sought to become T-Mobile customers in the past two years, according to a statement from Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich.

On Thursday, Brnovich urged T-Mobile customers to place fraud alerts on their credit reports as soon as possible.

Identification information of customers who applied for T-Mobile services between Sept. 1, 2013, through Sept. 16, 2015, was exposed when one of the nationwide credit bureaus, Experian, revealed it had been hacked. Victims' Social Security numbers, passport numbers, driver's licenses, names and addresses were exposed in the breach, according to Experian.

“Consumers need to take extra steps to safeguard against identity theft when a Social Security number is stolen, versus a stolen credit-card number," Brnovich said. "Putting a fraud alert on your credit is the best way to protect yourself.”

Credit reports with fraud alerts require a business to verify identity before issuing credit. They also make it more difficult for identity thieves to open an account under a stolen name, according to a statement from Brnovich's office. The preventative measure lasts 90 days and can be renewed. Customers can also get one free credit report annually from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, the three nationwide credit bureaus, to monitor their credit.

Consumers can freeze their credit reports to make release of their information impossible without permission. A freeze costs $5 per credit bureau but is free to victims of identity theft.

Brnovich said victims of the data breach can sign up for two years of free credit monitoring and identity-theft resolution at www.protectmyID.com/securityincident.

The major credit bureaus can also be reached by phone at the following toll-free numbers:

Experian – 1-888-397-3742.

Equifax – 1-888-766-0008 for fraud alerts or 1-800-349-9960 for credit freezes.

TransUnion – 1-800-680-7289.