May 5, 2023
Letter From UAW Benefits Trust Concerning Data Breach
The UAW Benefits Trust recently mailed a letter to Trust Members concerning a potential security risk. The data breach did not occur within the trust, but rather through a software company that manages data for the trust and hundreds of other health care plans. The company called NationsBenefits handles the OTC (Over The Counter) benefits for the VEBA Trust.
The letter which I am attaching, basically says if you have concerns you are eligible for Credit Monitoring for two years. The letter explains how you can sign up for this. While any data breach is concerning, the OTC website does not ask for your banking information.
The directions for signing up for credit monitoring are included within the attached letter.
The UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust (the “Trust”) is making potentially impacted members aware of an event experienced by our benefits administration provider, NationsBenefits Holdings, LLC (“NationsBenefits”).
On February 7, 2023, NationsBenefits learned that its vendor – Fortra, LLC (“Fortra”) – suffered a data security incident which resulted in access to or the acquisition of data belonging to NationsBenefits. NationsBenefits analyzed the impacted data and determined personal information belonging to some of the Trust members was impacted by this incident. NationsBenefits diligently worked with the Trust to identify up-to-date address information to notify impacted individuals. On April 13, 2023, NationsBenefits started providing notice of this incident to potentially impacted individuals. The notice includes information about the incident and about the steps that potentially impacted individuals can take to protect their information.
NationsBenefits is providing notice to impacted Trust members by mail and including an offer for free credit monitoring together with identity theft assistance and insurance. NationsBenefits is also notifying the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights and relevant state authorities. If you have questions regarding this event, please call NationsBenefits’s dedicated assistance line at 1-866- 313-7993. For those that received a letter, please call the number provided in your letter. Additional information can also be found on NationsBenefits’s website: https://nationsbenefits.com/incidentsupport.
The Trust encourages potentially impacted individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, to review account statements, and to monitor their credit reports and explanation of benefits forms for suspicious activity. The letter NationsBenefits will send to impacted individuals also provides additional information on obtaining a free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com, calling 877-322-8228, or contacting the three major credit bureaus directly at: Equifax, P.O. Box 105069, Atlanta, GA, 30348, 1-800-685-1111, www.equifax.com; Experian, P.O. Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013, 800-916-8800, www.experian.com; TransUnion, P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016, 800-680-7289, www.transunion.com.
Potentially impacted individuals may also find information regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, security freezes and the steps they may take to protect their information by contacting the credit bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission or their state Attorney General. The Federal Trade Commission can be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877- 438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261.
Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement or your state Attorney General.