Comcast has confirmed that the personal data of over 230,000 customers was stolen during a ransomware attack on a third-party debt collection agency, Financial Business and Consumer Solutions (FBCS). The breach happened in February 2024, but FBCS initially told Comcast that no customer data was compromised.
Unfortunately, the stolen data includes names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, Comcast account numbers, and ID numbers. The affected customers were registered as subscribers around 2021, and Comcast stopped using FBCS for debt collection in 2020. FBCS initially blamed an “unauthorized actor” for the attack and chose not to give any more details. However, Comcast’s filing with Maine’s attorney general confirms it was a ransomware attack. The attackers accessed FBCS’s computer network and downloaded data from its systems before encrypting some of them.
The incident has not been claimed by any known ransomware group. FBCS confirmed earlier this year that over four million people had their personal information accessed during the February cyberattack, but the exact number of FBCS customers affected is still unknown. Other organizations have confirmed they were victims of the FBCS breach. CF Medical, a debt-purchasing company, reported that over 620,000 people had their personal and health information accessed. Truist Bank, one of the largest banks in the United States, also confirmed it was affected by the incident, but the number of affected customers is yet to be revealed. The bank stated that names, addresses, account numbers, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers were accessed during the breach.
Unfortunately, while Comcast stopped using FBCS for debt collection services in 2020, that doesn’t mean it was unaffected. The stolen data incident does affect customers who were registered as customers at that time. If you were affected and are worried, it’s a good idea to do a credit freeze as needed at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
Source: Financial Business and Consumer Solutions via Tech Crunch
