RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia's Attorney General Mark Herring is warning consumers who could be affected by Capital One’s massive data breach to remain vigilant.
Capital One said on Monday that it recently suffered a massive security breach when a hacker gained access to personal information from around 100 million people in the U.S. and around 6 million in Canada.
Herring said personal information exposed during the breach included names, addresses, dates of birth, credit history information, social security numbers, and bank account numbers.
The bank emphasized that it believes no credit card account numbers or log-in credentials were compromised. However, it said about 140,000 credit card customers had their Social Security numbers exposed, and 80,000 bank account numbers linked to credit cards were compromised.
It plans to offer free credit monitoring services to those affected.
“Massive data breaches, like this Capital One breach, are happening all too frequently,” said Attorney General Herring. “Millions of Virginians may have been impacted by this most recent data breach, and all consumers, whether they have worked with Capital One or not, should be extra cautious in the coming weeks to protect their personal data. I am urging any Virginian who believes they may have been impacted by this breach to keep a close eye on their finances, and if you think you have been a victim of identity theft please contact my office immediately. We do not know the scope of the damage created by this data breach yet, but I will monitor the situation and keep Virginians updated.”
Virginians can access Attorney General Herring's Victim Notification Program's Identity Theft Guide online for information on how to protect your personal information and what to do if you think you've been the victim of identity theft.
Attorney General Herring urges all consumers to exercise caution and monitor their bank and credit card accounts for unauthorized charges, monitor credit reports, and change or strengthen passwords.