PLATTSBURGH — Area New York State Electric and Gas customers are receiving warnings about unauthorized access to their customer information.
The letters say that an employee of an independent software development consulting firm contracted by NYSEG and Rochester Gas and Electric allowed unauthorized access to one of its customer information systems.
Those records included Social Security numbers, dates of birth and, in some cases, financial information, including account numbers.
"While we have no evidence that such data has actually been misused or that there was any malicious intent," the letter says, "we are notifying you out of an abundance of caution so that you have the information and tools necessary to help detect and prevent any misuse of personal information."
The revelation that records had been compromised raised concerns across the region.
"My mother's not too happy with it. She's 83, and I'm here taking care of her," Don Clemons of Peru said Wednesday. "She's worried."
WILL MONITOR CREDIT
NYSEG and RG&E are advising customers to pay extra attention to their credit and bank accounts for any sign of unauthorized activity and to report any suspicions of identity theft to local law enforcement and/or the Federal Trade Commission.
Ralph Deyo of Plattsburgh also received one of the letters.
"From what I gather from the news and hearing things, this could be accidental," he said.
NYSEG and RG&E President Mark Lynch said the companies take their responsibility to protect customer information very seriously and have robust information-technology security measures in place.
"The matter was reported to law-enforcement authorities, and as a precautionary measure, we are offering NYSEG and RG&E customers the option of a credit-monitoring service at no charge," he said in a press release.
FREE SERVICE
Customers need to sign up for the free credit-check service with Experian by April 30 at http://tinyurl.com/84h4ne6 or by calling (877) 736-4495 (toll free) or, for international callers, (479) 573-7373. Callers must provide the activation code they received by mail.
Those lines are available 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The complimentary 12 months of credit-check service includes a free copy of a customer's credit report.
Clemons said he would discuss taking advantage of that offer with his mother.
"It's a good possibility," he said.
Deyo said he isn't all that concerned. He said he has excellent credit and has no plans to take out a loan anytime soon.
"If I did decide to take out a loan and found out something was wrong, I'd go from there," he said.
INSURANCE POLICY
The service also features daily credit monitoring that includes new inquiries, newly opened accounts, delinquencies or collections found on the customer's credit report. Those alerts can be received by email, text message or first-class mail.
Anyone who has been a victim of identity theft due to the situation will be assigned a dedicated, U.S.-based Experian Identity Theft Resolution Agent who will walk them through the fraud resolution process from start to finish, NYSEG said.
Once signed up, customers are covered by a $1 million insurance policy to help cover costs such as lost wages, a private investigator and unauthorized electronic fund transfers.
They are also entitled to one free copy of their credit report every 12 months from each of the three nationwide credit bureaus. That can be obtained at annualcreditreport.com or by calling toll free at (877) 322-8228.
Additional information is available at nyseg.com.
NYSEG serves about 878,000 electricity customers and 261,000 natural-gas customers in upstate New York, and RG&E has 367,000 electricity customers and 303,000 natural-gas customers in a nine-county region around Rochester.
They are subsidiaries of Iberdrola USA, which is a subsidiary of Iberdrola S.A.
Email Dan Heath at:
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