Robinhood, an online stock trading platform, said it was hacked last week, with over five million customer email addresses and two million customer names stolen, as well as a much smaller amount of highly specific customer data.
In a blog post, the company stated that on November 3, a malicious hacker socially engineered a customer service representative over the phone in order to gain access to customer support systems. The hacker was able to access not just customer names and email addresses, but also full names, dates of birth, and ZIP codes for 310 customers.
Robinhood has stated that it is notifying those who have been affected.
According to the company, no Social Security numbers were disclosed throughout the investigation. Numbers for bank accounts and debit cards were also not included.
Regardless of whether your personal information was compromised, the incident serves as a reminder that it's important to protect your credit from fraudsters.
The first option is to freeze your credit report, which prevents outsiders from seeing your information. Because the potential lender can't check your credit report to accept the application, a scammer can't utilize your personal information to secure a loan or establish credit.
If you need to apply for fresh credit, though, you must temporarily lift the freeze. According to the Federal Trade Commission, it will remain in place until you remove it.
You must also notify the major credit-reporting agencies - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion - and request that your report be frozen at each of them.
A one-year short-term fraud alert is also an option. These warnings differ from freezes in that a lender wanting to approve an application must first contact you to confirm that the request is not from an imposter.
To initiate a fraud alert, you only need to contact one credit reporting company, which is then legally compelled to share your notification with others. It's also completely free.
A credit-monitoring service, which can alert you to suspected fraud on your credit record, is also worth considering. It will not, however, prevent it. Some of the more basic services are provided for free, while more complete coverage may incur a fee.
