GREENSBORO, N.C. — A company that may have handled your blood work is dealing with a data breach.
No, you're not experiencing Déjà vu. This happened just yesterday with Quest Diagnostics. Today it's Labcorp. And the two are technically related.
Hackers gained access to the online payment system of American Medical Collection Agency. That's Labcorp and Quest's third-party billing vendor. Labcorp doesn't have a list of victims yet, so what should you do?
Start with how you handle your next medical visit. You can't put your social security number on hold or free it like a credit card. So your main defense is to just not give it out because you often don't have to.
According to the Social Security Administration and the American Medical Association, you almost never have to give your social security number to a doctor, hospital, or urgent care facility. As a matter of fact, the American Medical Association actually discourages the use of social security numbers except when required by law.
Your next step? Freezing your credit. It keeps anyone from opening an account under your name or stealing your money. You can do it by clicking on each of these links or reaching out to each of the three credit bureaus.
Equifax Security Freeze
P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348//1-800-685-1111
Experian Security Freeze
P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013//1-888-397-3742
TU Protected Consumer Freeze
P.O. Box 380 Woodlyn, PA 19094//1-800-916-8800
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