Anthem says it has notified 531,000 Maine residents that they were impacted by a massive data breach this year.

A spokesman for the company says it learned about  the nationwide breach Jan 29 and disclosed Feb. 4.

Anthem has been sending letters to current and former Anthem members dating back to 2004.

Hackers stole names, dates of birth, social security numbers, addresses and other personal information.

CBS 13 found more than 75 class action lawsuits filed in federal court. One is a $5 million suit filed by a Brunswick man. The suits generally claim Anthem failed to safeguard personal information and challenge Anthem’s data security practices.

A lawyer in Illinois claims Anthem is to blame for an increase in tax fraud this year in her state and across the country.

Anthem is not commenting on the pending lawsuits.

The company is offering free identity protection services through AllClearID. You can get additional protection with credit monitoring services.

“If you were a member of an affected plan at any time since 2004 you are eligible to sign up for the credit monitoring and credit ID repair services,” Anthem’s Rory Sheehan wrote in an email to CBS 13.

Copy the Story Link

Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

filed under: