In case you didn’t hear about it through a CUNY campus where you are employed: recently, Anthem, parent company of Empire BlueCross BlueShield (which provides our hospital benefits under NYSHIP), was cyber-attacked; hackers accessed member data like SSNs, emails, and home addresses.
They’ve set up a site and phone number for enrollees to contact them (https://www.anthemfacts.com/1-877-263-7995), and they’re providing enrollees, for free, 24 months with an identity protection provider (identity theft repair and credit monitoring). People can call this service, AllClear ID, which “is automatically available to you with no enrollment required,” at 877-263-7995, at which point “a dedicated investigator will do the work to recover financial losses, restore your credit, and make sure your identity is returned to its proper condition.” Their call centers are open Mon-Sat from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. A more advanced version of this service (“pro”) is also available for free, but for that you have to actually sign in there with your personal information.
Here’s an email from CUNY Central with more information and Empire BlueCross BlueShield’s press release.
Dear Colleagues,
As you may be aware, Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, one of the City’s health insurance providers, was the victim of a highly-sophisticated cyber-attack which has impacted some 80 million records. Anthem, Inc., the parent company of Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield has informed the City that its member data was accessed. Empire Blue Cross provides hospital benefits to many current and former CUNY employees. Information that was accessed includes; names, birthdays, medical IDs social security numbers, street addresses, email addresses and employment information. Anthem has created a website –www.anthemfacts.com, and a hotline, 1-877-263-7995, for its members to call for more information about the cyber-attack.
 
The below press release also contains more information.
Leslie E. Williams
University Executive Director, Shared Services, City University of New York
 
Empire BlueCross BlueShield Alerts Consumers to
Protect Themselves from Scam Email Campaigns
 
NEW YORK, NY, February 6, 2015 –– New York residents who may have been impacted by the cyber attack against Anthem, should be aware of scam email campaigns targeting current and former Empire BlueCross BlueShield and Empire BlueCross members. These scams, designed to capture personal information (known as “phishing”) are designed to appear as if they are from Anthem, (Empire’s parent company), and the emails include a “click here” link for credit monitoring. These emails are NOT from Anthem or Empire. 
  • DO NOT click on any links in email.
  • DO NOT reply to the email or reach out to the senders in any way.
  • DO NOT supply any information on the website that may open, if you have clicked on a link in email.
  • DO NOT open any attachments that arrive with email.
 
Empire also is NOT calling members regarding the cyber attack and is not asking for credit card information or social security numbers over the phone.
 
This outreach is from scam artists who are trying to trick consumers into sharing personal data. There is no indication that the scam email campaigns are being conducted by those that committed the cyber attack, or that the information accessed in the attack is being used by the scammers. 
 
Empire will contact current and former members via mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service about the cyber attack with specific information on how to enroll in credit monitoring. Affected members will receive free credit monitoring and ID protection services. 
 
For more guidance on recognizing scam email, please visit the FTC Website:http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0003-phishing. Additional information about the cyber attack against Anthem is available at www.AnthemFacts.com
Media Contact: Sally Kweskin, 212-476-1421,sally.kweskin@empireblue.com, @empirebcbs
 
About Empire BlueCross BlueShield
Serving New Yorkers for 80 years, Empire BlueCross BlueShield is the largest health insurer in New York supporting nearly five million members and more than 38,000 business, union and small employers in New York. Empire BlueCross BlueShield (Empire) is the trade name of Empire HealthChoice Assurance, Inc., and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO is the trade name of Empire HealthChoice HMO, Inc., independent licensees of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, serving residents and businesses in the 28 eastern and southeastern counties of New York State. Additional information about Empire is available at www.empireblue.com. Also, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/healthjoinin or @empirebcbs, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HealthJoinIn