T-Mobile Says Hackers Stole Information on More Than 40 Million People

T-Mobile US Inc. said the attack that breached its computer network pulled Social Security numbers and other personal information of more than 40 million current and prospective customers.

The cellphone carrier said the stolen data included first and last names, birth dates, Social Security numbers and driver’s license information from a subset of current and potential customers. The victims included people who applied for credit with T-Mobile—regardless of whether they ended up doing business with the carrier—and about 7.8 million current subscribers with postpaid plans.

The breach is among the larger thefts of Social Security numbers, though leaks from various companies in recent years have exposed such data on tens of millions of consumers. A 2017 intrusion at Equifax Inc. exposed about 143 million Americans’ personal information, including names, addresses, birth dates and Social Security numbers.

T-Mobile said it would open an online portal with information for potential victims, though the web page wasn’t yet live early Wednesday morning.

The company said the breach also exposed the names, phone numbers and account PINs, or personal identification numbers, of about 850,000 of its customers on prepaid plans, which don’t require a credit check. Subscribers using the Metro by T-Mobile, legacy Sprint and Boost Mobile brands weren’t part of that group.