Information for 15 million T-Mobile customers hacked

Experian claims no credit card information was taken in the breach and the only information taken were names, dates of birth, addresses, and Social Security numbers, as well as an alternative form of identification and other information.

T-Mobile’s own servers were not compromised, the carrier says, and Experian insists that no payment card or banking information were among the data haul stolen.

T-Mobile has posted a full FAQ on the situation, and so has Experian.

“Obviously I am incredibly angry about this data breach and we will institute a thorough review of our relationship with Experian, this is no small issue for us.”

Unfortunately, one of the credit services that T-Mo uses to process check applications for those programs has had a data breach.

Experian said hackers broke into its computer system in September and accessed a computer server full of that information.

Experian says it notified law enforcement in the United States and overseas when it discovered the intrusion.

T-Mobile’s shares were down 1.7 percent in extended trading after closing little changed at $40.13 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Anyone who signed up during the early weeks of September are most at risk because they would have submitted to a credit check for service or device financing.

John Legere, T-Mobile US’s chief executive officer, wrote in a letter to consumers. It’s offering to provide T-Mobile applicants two years of free credit monitoring and identity protection – which would require you to fork over more information to the company and confirm its accuracy. They should also file tax returns as soon as they can, to beat a potential thief.

Almost 800 data breaches were reported previous year by USA organizations, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center.

It’s unclear what criminals have done with the stolen T-Mobile data. Verizon and AT&T are the country’s largest wireless carriers.