The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Public Safety Services, Office of Motor Vehicle (OMV) responded to a data security incident that involved personal information of individuals who were issued a Louisiana driver’s license, identification card and/or vehicle registrations.
On May 31, 2023, Progress Software Corporation, which developed and supports the MOVEIt managed file transfer platform, notified all customers across the globe, including OMV, of a zero-day vulnerability that an unauthorized party leveraged to access and acquire data without authorization. Upon learning of the incident, immediate measures were taken to secure the MOVEIt environment utilized to transfer files. A thorough investigation was conducted, and it was determined that there was unauthorized acquisition of and access to OMV files in the MOVEIt environment.
OMV determined that files involved in the incident contained the personal information of individuals who applied for and/or were issued a Louisiana driver’s license, identification card and/or vehicle registration. The information varied by individual but included name and one or more of the following: address, date of birth, Social Security number, driver’s license, learner’s permit, or identification card number, height, eye color, vehicle registration information, and handicap placard information.
The OMV established a dedicated, toll-free call center to answer questions that individuals may have. If you believe your information was involved and have any questions about this incident, call (866) 861-8717. The call center will be open 24 hours per day and seven days a week. Additionally, OMV is offering 12 months of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection from LifeLock. OMV has retained LifeLock to provide impacted Louisiana residents one year of complimentary LifeLock Standard identity theft protection.
Impacted Louisiana residents should follow the instructions below to register for this service.
To activate your membership online and get protection at no cost to you, please see enrollment instructions available at https://nextsteps.la.gov.
The OMV encourages all Louisianans whose information was involved in this incident to actively monitor for the possibility of fraud and identity theft by reviewing your financial statements and credit reports for any unauthorized activity. If you notice any unauthorized activity, contact the relevant financial institution or the credit bureau reporting the activity immediately.
To help prevent something like this from happening again, additional safeguards and technical security measures have been implemented to further protect and monitor the MOVEIt environment.
It is always advisable to be vigilant for incidents of fraud or identity theft by reviewing your account statements, health insurance benefit statements, healthcare billing statements, and free credit reports for any unauthorized activity. You may obtain a copy of your credit report, free of charge, once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. To order your annual free credit report, please visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll free at 1-877-322-8228.
If you believe you are the victim of identity theft or have reason to believe your personal information has been misused, you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission and/or the Louisiana Attorney General’s office. You can obtain information from these sources about steps an individual can take to avoid identity theft as well as information about fraud alerts and security freezes. You should also contact your local law enforcement authorities and file a police report. Obtain a copy of the police report in case you are asked to provide copies to creditors to correct your records.
There are two types of general fraud alerts you can place on your credit report to put your creditors on notice that you may be a victim of fraud — an initial alert and an extended alert. You may ask that an initial fraud alert be placed on your credit report if you suspect you have been, or are about to be, a victim of identity theft. An initial fraud alert stays on your credit report for one year. You may have an extended alert placed on your credit report if you have already been a victim of identity theft with the appropriate documented proof. An extended fraud alert stays on your credit report for seven years.
To place a fraud alert on your credit reports, contact one of the nationwide credit bureaus. A fraud alert is free. The credit bureau you contact must tell the other two, and all three will place an alert on their versions of your report.
For those in the military who want to protect their credit while deployed, an Active Duty Military Fraud Alert lasts for one year and can be renewed for the length of your deployment. The credit bureaus will also take you off their marketing lists for pre-screened credit card offers for two years, unless you ask them not to.
You have the right to put a credit freeze, also known as a security freeze, on your credit file, free of charge, which makes it more difficult for identity thieves to open new accounts in your name. That’s because most creditors need to see your credit report before they approve a new account. If they can’t see your report, they may not extend the credit.
There is no fee to place or lift a security freeze. Unlike a fraud alert, you must separately place a security freeze on your credit file at each credit reporting company.
After receiving your freeze request, each credit bureau will provide you with a unique PIN (personal identification number) or password. Keep the PIN or password in a safe place. You will need it if you choose to lift the freeze.
A freeze remains in place until you ask the credit bureau to temporarily lift it or remove it altogether. If the request is made online or by phone, a credit bureau must lift a freeze within one hour. If the request is made by mail, then the bureau must lift the freeze no later than three business days after getting your request.
If you opt for a temporary lift because you are applying for credit or a job, and you can find out which credit bureau the business will contact for your file, you can save some time by lifting the freeze only at that particular credit bureau. Otherwise, you need to make the request with all three credit bureaus.
Protecting your credit and identity is important. Follow the guidelines presented to ensure the safety of your identity and credit in the future.