Yikes, Another DATA BREACH.

AT&T has informed the public via multiple outlets that every phone number of every single user that was on their service between May 1, 2022 and October 31, 2022.

The compromised data are the phone logs from all of those users and that includes every single number those customers called or texted in that time frams.

Approximately 110 subscribers have been affected by this latest breach.

So, what does this mean?

Calls from unknown numbers need to be sent to voicemail. If you have a Robo-Call blocker, make sure it's enabled, such as YouMail, one I use for my business and personal lines.

This will open up many unsuspecting AT&T users and landline users who were called by AT&T customers to:

  • Robo-Callers:
    • More calls from scammers.
  • Phishing Calls:
    • These are pretty bad and try to lure people into letting them access the computers and then stealing passwords and money from accounts.
  • Scammers who can pretend to be family members asking for money or other manipulation:
    • Some of my clients have gotten phone calls from scammers stating they are a family member and need money.
      • Hang up and call the family member directly and ask them
  • Scam text messages with dangerous links 
  • Links to fradulent sites being sent to phones
  • Look up of personal data via phone numbers on Social Media sites and subsequent attempts at hacking of those accounts

Use of publicly available tools that can link phone numbers with specific names makes this truly bad scenario for AT&T customers.

Since data from those records also included tower locations for those calls, broad geographic information can also used to determine where a customer might be.

What does this mean in the long run?

More harassment from scammers and such for existing clients.