Cellular phone customers have filed a class action lawsuit against AT&T, claiming the telecommunications giant dramatically under-reported the severity of a data breach announced last month, notifying only a subset of those impacted by the breach.
According to the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, AT&T limited its notification of the breach to AT&T customers, ignoring those whose data was in AT&T’s possession under roaming agreements with competitors, such as Verizon and T-Mobile, and service agreements with other third-party providers, known as mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs).
MVNOs typically enter into agreements with mobile network operators (MNOs), including AT&T, to provide them with access to their network services, which they can then resell to consumers under their own brand names. Consumers with MVNOs FreedomPop, FreeUp Mobile, Good2Go, H20 Wireless, PureTalk, Red Pocket, Straight Talk Wireless, TracFone Wireless, Unreal Mobile and Wingor may have been affected by the data breach.
“We don’t yet know why AT&T felt it was acceptable to keep so many consumers, from whom it profits, in the dark about the breach and the threat it poses,” said Elizabeth Fegan, managing partner of FeganScott and the attorney representing the plaintiffs. “What we do know is that hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of consumers have no idea that their confidential information is in the hands of bad actors.”
The complaint details the steps AT&T took to notify impacted customers about the April 2024 data breach. These included posting a notice of “Unlawful Access of Customer Data” to its website with recommendations on how affected customers can protect themselves from online fraud. As of the complaint filing, AT&T had not taken any steps to inform customers of other carriers about the breach or its impact on them.
“This is the second major data breach AT&T has suffered in 2024,” added Fegan. “It’s time the company take its cybersecurity seriously and put measures in place that will adequately protect customer information.”
Customers of FreedomPop, FreeUp Mobile, Good2Go, H20 Wireless, PureTalk, Red Pocket, Straight Talk Wireless, TracFone Wireless, Unreal Mobile and Wingor are urged to contact attdatabreach@feganscott.com to learn more about their rights or visit www.feganscott.com for more information.
About FeganScott
FeganScott is a national class action law firm dedicated to helping victims of consumer fraud, data privacy, sexual abuse, and discrimination. The firm is championed by acclaimed veteran class action attorneys who have successfully recovered $1 billion for victims nationwide. FeganScott is committed to pursuing successful outcomes with integrity and excellence while holding the responsible parties accountable.
Case no. 3:24-cv-01943-K
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240822782432/en/
Contacts
Mark Firmani
feganscottpr@firmani.com
