Verizon Notifies Prepaid Customers of Recent Security Breach

Verizon alerted several prepaid customers that their accounts were breached in a recent security incident. Attackers accessed Verizon accounts using the victims’ last four digits of their credit cards and attempted to process unauthorized SIM card changes.

“Upon further review, we determined that between October 6 and October 10, 2022, a third party actor accessed the last four digits of the credit card used to make automatic payments on your account,” reads Verizon’s announcement. “Using the last four digits of that credit card, the third party was able to gain access to your Verizon account and may have processed an unauthorized SIM card change on the prepaid line that received the SMS linking to this notice.”

The company said it reversed any SIM card change that occurred due to the breach, blocked unauthorized access to the compromised accounts, and reset Account Security Codes (PINs) as cautionary steps.

The security advisory emphasized that attackers could not view the full credit card number and only exposed the last four digits. Customers were reminded that their accounts hold various bits of Personally Identifiable Information (PII), including names, billing addresses, price plans, telephone numbers, and “other service-related information.”

However, compromised accounts didn’t leak other critical data such as financial information, passwords, banking information, Social Security Numbers (SSNs), or tax IDs.

Verizon included a set of recommendations for users that have been affected by the breach, including:

• Set a new Verizon PIN code, preferably one that hasn’t been used to secure other non-Verizon accounts
• Configure a new password and security question for the My Verizon account
• Change the credit card used for automatic payments if possible
• Secure non-Verizon accounts that send codes to your phone for identity verification or resetting passwords
• Change PINs and passwords for potentially compromised email and financial accounts
• Contact credit bureaus or review credit reports to ensure there’s no suspicious activity on your credit report

Dedicated software solutions such as Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection can give you the upper hand against data breaches with its extensive library of features, including:

• 24/7 continuous breach monitoring on the public and Dark web, reporting all incidents where your data may have been leaked
• Comprehensive dashboard where you can see your digital footprint, including traces from no-longer-used services
• Simple, 1-click action items that allow you to take instant action against leaks and reinforce weak points in your digital footprint