National Public Data (NPD), a Coral Springs, Florida company, has confirmed that cybercriminals successfully breached its servers, stealing Social Security numbers and other sensitive information from nearly every American, the New York Post reported.
Jerico Pictures Inc., which operates as National Public Data, issued a statement last week acknowledging the massive data breach. The company confirmed that the stolen data included names, email addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, and mailing addresses.
The breach, which occurred in late December 2023, is believed to have exposed sensitive data through subsequent leaks in April and summer 2024.
NPD attributed the breach to a “third-party bad actor” and described the incident as a “data security incident” in an official statement on its website. The company confirmed that it had conducted an investigation into the breach, but that the damage had already been done.
Since August 1, at least eight separate lawsuits have been filed against NPD, each alleging negligence and breach of fiduciary duty. The first lawsuit was filed by Christopher Hoffman, a California resident, who claimed that a group of cybercriminals known as “USDoD” posted stolen data on the dark web.
Hoffman’s lawsuit, first reported by Bloomberg Law, alleges that the group made the personal data of 2.9 billion people available for sale on the dark web, with the database valued at $3.5 million. The lawsuit further states that the hackers obtained the data dating back at least thirtyincluding information about relatives and past addresses.
The Gateway Pundit previously reported:
According to multiplethe stolen information included every Social Security number in America and other sensitive data. News of the hack was found in a lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
The USDoD previously provided personal data for sale for $3.5 million, according to the complaint.
Teresa Murray, director of consumer watchdog for the US Public Information Research Group told the LA Times in an interview that if the USDoD is telling the truth, this hack is more severe than any that has previously affected America.
“If this is in fact the whole dossier for all of us, it should be more concerning,” Murray said. “And if people weren’t careful beforehand, which they should have been, this should have been a five-alarm wake-up call for them.”
NPD In response to the breach, NPD is urging affected individuals to closely monitor their financial accounts and immediately report any unauthorized activity to their financial institutions. The company also recommends that those with Social Security numbers contact the three major credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — to get free credit reports and flag fraud on file.
According to NPD:
We strongly recommend that you take precautionary measures to prevent and detect misuse of your information. As a first step, we recommend that you monitor your financial accounts closely and if you see any unauthorized activity, you should contact your financial institution immediately.
As a second step, you may want to contact the three US credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to obtain a free credit report from each by calling 1.877.322.8228 or logging on to www.annualcreditreport.com. It is also recommended to place a free fraud alert on your credit file. Fraud alerts tell creditors to contact you before opening a new account or changing an existing account.
Contact one of the three major credit bureaus. As soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others will be notified to flag your fraud. Early fraud alerts stay on your credit report for one year. You can renew after one year.
Equifax: equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services or 1-800-685-1111
Experian: experian.com/help or 1-888-397-3742
TransUnion: transunion.com/credit-help or 1-888-909-8872
Ask each credit bureau to send you a free credit report after flagging fraud on your file. Review your credit report for unknown accounts and inquiries.
This could be a sign of identity theft. If your personal information has been misused, visit the FTCs website at IdentityTheft.gov to report identity theft and obtain recovery steps.
Even if you don’t find any suspicious activity on your initial credit report, we recommend that you check your credit report periodically so you can spot problems and fix them quickly. You may want to consider placing a free credit freeze.
A credit freeze means that potential creditors cannot obtain your credit report. That makes it less likely that an identity thief can open a new account in your name. To place a freeze, contact each major credit bureau at the link or phone number above.
A freeze remains in place until you ask the credit bureau to temporarily lift or remove it.